As I Lay Dying
by whysosiriusumbridge
Summary: There was something about the girl, that was different. Maybe because she was British, or because her eyes screamed that she had numerous secrets, the natural way she noticed everything around her so alertly, as if she was learning everything for a reason. And then he had leaned in to whisper something, and got a sniff of her blood.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Hermione almost tripped on the fifteen something bottles of Sleakseazy Hair Smoothener that were adorning the floor of her bathroom. She carefully walked to the door and back and then looked at Ginny – glaring, daring her to point out a fault.

Her red headed friend only smiled self-satisfactorily, before encasing her in a careful hug, not wanting to mess up the hair do she had spent the last two hours on.

"You look perfect!" Ginny squealed, releasing her and then ushered her out the door of her bedroom and down the narrow, rickety stairs of Grimmauld Place. "Now hurry up! You're late!"

"As if that is my fault. I was being held against my wi-"

Ginny snickered at the irritated witch, and waving her a quick goodbye, shut the door in her affronted face.

* * *

"Three hours of make up and pish-posh, only to flush myself down a toilet." Hermione grumbled, as she dusted her clothes after stepping out of the green flames into the polished dark surroundings of the Atrium. She was wearing an expensive black silk frock that actually belonged to Ginny. It suited her though – reaching her knees, drawing perfect attention to her upper body curves and fanning out at the waist with a deep cut.

Since the Ministry was still building up steadily, Kingsley had not bothered to change the way of main entry, and it had been irritating many officials. Sure, she pitied the man's current situation, but that didn't mean she was happy to flush herself down a toilet _everyday_.

She followed the large instruction banner in the Atrium and took a lift to the Ministry's newly installed Ballroom.

It had hit the exact six month mark today, from the day Hermione had joined the Ministry of Magic. Straight out of Hogwarts, she and Lavender had joined the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures as mere interns, though the work load and dependence on them had been much more than on the normal intern, due to the lack of staff in the department. It was one of the major problems of the complete refining of the staff that Kingsley had single-handedly attempted, though he did have to seek out the help from his own trustworthy members of the Wizengamot and what had remained of the Order.

Their boss, Jeffery Jameson, an old man of forty-five, had stepped up for the charge of the Department on Kinglsey's request. He was a traveler and expert on Animal Habitat, and had written two muggle books, which were considered of no importance in the magical world. He was a kind hearted man though, an average magician, and one that Kingsley trusted, so Hermione respected him. Though his appearance reminded her of Horace Slughorn, he was not nearly so in his nature and habits.

Her boss had preferred her for the post of his Secretary after he had met her and interacted with her on a regular basis. So she had been promoted to that post after two months of internship. Lavender had been promoted too, though she was still junior in office to her.

The blonde girl was no longer the same, no longer just the blonde classmate, ex-girlfriend of Ronald Weasley. No. Lavender Brown had changed a lot. They had all changed in fact, all starting after the war.

Anyone who came to know that this group of people hung out together, would never believe how close knit their group actually was. It had all started when Harry had decided to help get the charges off Draco and Narcissa Malfoy. His proposal was well met – but with the condition, that he extend his statement to include Lucius as well, or they rejected his offer. Everyone had been shocked to say the least. Harry had begrudgingly agreed and the Malfoy family had been released with his assurance to the Ministry.

After a few months of silence, Harry had received a proposal – to invest in the newly developed Malfoy Business, headed by Draco. He never met personally, but the proposal was discussed by Theodore Nott – and well, these two clicked immediately. All everyone knew about Theo was that his mother had married and remarried seven times, having a few children, and inheriting a shitload of wealth along the way. Theo had been handling his family's finances since sixth year; and after finding out that Blaise Zabini was actually his half brother, Zabini's finances as well.

Now he had been looking into the Malfoy finances too, on Draco's request and trust – which was what had indirectly exposed them all to Draco Malfoy. Theo had once asked Draco and Harry, both separately, if they knew that they were cousins, and after pushing them a few times, finally got them to hang out with each other.

Harry had always been hyper aware of the fact that Draco was the only family he had left, by blood. They had bonded over that, and the three Slytherins were suddenly a part of the trusted circle. They were not all good, but Hermione had to admit, they weren't all that bad either.

Sure, they had had their… problems, in the beginning, with Ron especially, but eventually, everyone had calmed down. Fights took place, hard words were exchanged and some nasty curses were dealt with, but in the end, even Ron couldn't ignore the happiness of his best friend.

As for the rest of them – Neville had matured a lot, so he was an adult about it, admittedly the only one, and George and Ginny – well, those two loved a laugh, so they got along fairly well. Lavender and Luna had somewhat of a clean slate, so there was nothing much to worry about.

Hermione, on the other hand, had a different connection with each of the guys, and she now considered them a huge part of their small family. But those were musings for another time.

Right now, someone out of their small group needed to keep up with what was happening with this world. And seeing that Draco and Harry had convinced Theo and Lavender _and_ Luna to cancel their plan to attend the night's event in favor of the small party they were throwing at Grimmauld Place, she was the one who felt responsible to do it. Being the official nerd and all.

* * *

Slughorn's tea party was more exciting than this!

The evening was a completely simple and an infuriatingly boring one. A few speeches by Kingsley that updated them about progresses in all sectors over the few months, introductions to new people, sucking up to some of the higher officials, avoiding some people who wanted to do the sucking up to her, and mostly waiting till it was polite to leave.

Just after the New Year and the New Century had been officially welcomed, Hermione was ready to leave the premises and go back home to drink something stronger than whatever was being served. Whatever it was wasn't strong enough. It was around 12:30 that she spotted her boss at a bar, looking somewhat red, in discussion with a tall official, whom she recognized as Peter Podress from the Department of Mysteries. She watched as they argued over something while her boss kept shaking his head and looked like he was trying to come to a very difficult decision. After Podress left, she made her way towards the bar, and saw Mr. Jeffrey crack a relieved smile on seeing her. He poured her a drink and invited her to sit beside him, "Ah Ms. Granger, just the person I wanted to see."

"To what do I owe the pleasure, Sir?" she said, draining half her glass at once.

Her Head of Department grimaced as they settled on a table, his demeanor mostly resigned, "I'm afraid you won't like what I have to say Ms. Granger."

Hermione frowned at his tone, but was forced to ask nonetheless, "Is this about Mr. Podress and your _discussion_ with him just now, Sir? He looked rather insistent."

"Yes. He is insistent on having you."

Hermione almost upset her glass at the disturbing implication. "I'm sorry, but what? I don't know him – I've never even spoken to him."

"This is not about your work in the Ministry Hermione. This is about something more specific." He paused and raised his glass for a refill, watching the liquid fill somberly. "The Department of Mysteries wants you to go on a mission. It is mostly a research mission and they asked specifically for you because they think that you are the most capable. Who better than the Golden Girl of the Wizarding World?" he chuckled, as Hermione made a face at the stupid new nickname.

"Well, Sir, I suppose it wouldn't be that bad if it's only a research mission. I do rather like to play the field. Paperwork does get boring after a while. I don't see what's there to be upset about..."

"Hermione, the topic of your research is Vampires."

She raised her eyebrows at the still sad expression of her boss, not understanding how that would be a problem. Wizards and vampires did not have much of a difficulty co existing and if all they needed was research, what was the problem?

Unless he didn't want her to go. That would be rather unusual for her boss though – he wasn't that much of a selfish person. He was good to them, always granting leaves whenever they asked and did not generally mind doing some work himself.

"Uh... I still don't see how that's a problem, Sir. However, I won't go if you don't want me to. I'm happy to s-"

"So you wouldn't mind researching about vampires?" he said suddenly, looking up at her curiously.

"No, Sir. I would actually enjoy it I think."

He laughed out loud at that, relief evident on his face, "Now I see why they thought you would be perfect for the job."

"What would the job require exactly, Sir?"

Mr. Jeffrey had this mixed expression on his face. He looked somewhat apprehensive to talk about this and his voice lowered as he spoke, "Well, that is actually the part where most candidates lose the enthusiasm. You have to mostly gather information, analyze it, keep the archives updated, and track one."

"I'm very sure I'll be able to fulfill it Sir. It sounds interesting. Whom do I have to track?"

He nodded impatiently at her now, "Hear me out. The one we have to track, wizards have been keeping an eye out for that one for centuries. Unfortunately, his records haven't been updated in over a hundred years. He's the one we need to watch mostly."

"What's his name?"

He looked about suspiciously, before leaning in and whispering, "They call him The Hybrid."

* * *

Hermione's mind was swirling with all the new information that she had. While there was a part of her that was rather disappointed that she would have to travel to the States to start her work on her 'New Project', she was mostly excited at the prospect. She had strict orders that she could absolutely not tell anyone, especially her friends, about this new development.

That all went out of the window as soon as she entered the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. Harry's wide I'm-as-hammered-as-Peeves grin welcomed her, flanked with the Blonde Brooder Malfoy and Ron's cross-eyed expression. Who knew that the Malfoy boy was an emotional drunk and that Ron was completely incapable of human speech when there was an excess of alcohol in his system. Neville and Luna were sitting along the end of the long table, immersed in conversation, but looking cozy.

Neville and Luna had repeated their last year at Hogwarts with her and they had bonded even more, along with Blaise and Theo, who had been the only Slytherins repeating the year. Things had been rather stiff among the 'eighth years' but there had been a mutual understanding among them. A silent one.

Draco had also been willing to let go of his past grudges, not that his personality had improved much. He was still the same obnoxious prat, only less insulting towards those within their merry little circle. Plus, he was a rather intelligent conversationalist, when it came to that. George had also found surprisingly eager customers in the slytherins; they were always up for fun pranks.

After school had finished, Hermione and Lavender had joined the Ministry, while Ron and Harry had started training in the Auror Department one year previously. Blaise had enrolled for a Muggle degree in Bio technology of all things, while Theo handled the financial accounts of the four wealthiest families of the Wizarding World.

Neville was training at Hogwarts for his dream job, under Proffessor Sprout, while Luna had joined the Apothecary right after school. She was collecting money for her tour for research purposes. Which was what they were talking about when Hermione entered. They cheered her drunkedly and Hermione revelled in the freedom of finally removing her heels.

It was nine in the morning next day, when everyone was stirring, that she decided to drop the bombshell.

She was probably a bit drunk still, since she decided it would be a great idea to wake everyone by opening Mrs. Black's curtains.

"MUGGLE FILTH IN THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS! INCOMPETENT BLOOD TRAITORS! CHILDEREN OF VILENESS AND DUST! CREATURES OF DIRT! DESTROYING THE HONOR OF MY RESPECTFUL HOUSE! MUDBLOODS AND BLOOD TRAITORS ALIKE! BRINGING FILTH AND BESMIRCHING-"

"Oh my God, PLEASE!"

"Someone in the name of Merlin, CLOSE IT!"

"What the FUCK Hermione?"

Hermione grinned hugely at a very pissed off Draco, who stood in the doorway of the kitchen, hands covering his ears, and his eyes scrunched up in obvious pain.

"Just give her a minute until everyone is up."

"Are you still drunk Hermione?! Or have you finally gone mad?!" Ron shouted above the shrieks of the old woman, his eyes so bloodshot that they were darker than his hair. He stood next to Draco, in the same position, only looking somehow more in the pain than the other. She grinned at him too.

Within five minutes, everyone had grumbled up, Luna had put up the kettle, Lavender assisting her, because of course they didn't trust Luna in the kitchen. Then she shut off the shouting portrait and returned to the kitchen. They were all shooting different levels of glares at her, while slowly gathering around the kitchen table, still smelly and probably half-drunk. When the tea was made and served, and after Blaise had graciously offered everyone sips of the Hangover Potion, they sat facing her expectantly.

"Sorry about earlier. But it was important to wake you guys up. There is a matter that needs our immediate attention."

Harry and Ron shared a look and sat a bit straighter in their chairs, while Draco, Blaise and Theo merely looked interested. Lavender, Luna, Ginny, George and Neville looked only half-awake.

"I have an assignment from the Department of Mysteries."

There was moment of silence as everyone exchanged glances. "But you work in RCMC?" Neville asked confusedly, and she nodded at him. "Yes, but they've specifically asked for me."

"In the fear of sounding obvious, that doesn't make sense." Draco said, tilting his head sideways. "I know that the Department of Mysteries is allowed to pick employees from any department, but it's only in the case of underground missions."

The look that she gave him made it clear that was exactly what it was. Realization dawned on everyone's face as the meaning of her non-answer struck.

"You do know that no one, I mean _no one_ is supposed to know when you go on those missions." Draco said, narrowing his eyes dangerously. She nodded. "So you are telling us this, why? Because even having knowledge of this could be dangerous for those who know it."

She looked around at the half shocked and worried faces of friends, and sighed slightly. "The point is that I cannot refuse. I am sorry for telling you all but... the nature of this mission is such, that it could be dangerous."

She saw Harry open his mouth, just as Ginny did but continued before they could start, her voice smooth and professional, making it clear that there was no room for discussion. "I know that you all would have been worried if you happened to hear it from somewhere else. So I decided to tell you. Just not the exact details, only that the mission could be dangerous. For everyone else, I'm going to Seattle to meet my long distance family-"

"What's the point of telling us if we can't do anything about the danger?" Ron said, voicing something she had really hoped someone would ask.

"Yes, about that." she left the kitchen quickly and hurried to her room. There she dug out the bag of fake galleons she had left, back from their fifth year. Some Gryffindors had later returned them, seeing no point in keeping them and she had stored them away. She performed a quick transfiguration spell on them as she entered the kitchen again.

"These are for us all, and special green and blue ones because I know you guys will whine if they're all red and gold." she said, as she overturned the sack on the table and eleven huge rings glittered eerily in the low light.

* * *

Hermione's flight was scheduled to leave on the second day of the year. She would leave at around 8 in the morning and arrive at Richmond in the evening, according to US time. One day, or 23 hours was all she had to prepare for her stay. She had the previous Ministry archives with her, but in the haste of everything that had been happening, she had no time to read them. She had been helpfully informed that the last recorded appearance of their 'Main Concern' was around 1864 in Mystic Falls. No one had noticed that information on the section had been missing for more than a hundred years now but when they had, they had called for Hermione Granger to set things back in motion.

So, along with preparing her friends for the possible danger, she had also needed help in preparing herself since there was no firm duration of her stay in Mystic Falls. She could even have to move. So, she had to seek out some help regarding everything.

All kinds of books that she could need were Luna's duty, she knew that she could trust the girl to not ask questions and keep the information to herself. Lavender was responsible for handling everything inside the Ministry, without letting their boss know, of course. No one could know that she had told them anything at all. Lavender circulated the story of the long vacation everywhere she could while picking up archives and other documents for her from the Ministry.

Harry was responsible for collecting her clothes, and even buying a few wherever necessary, as she wasn't so much of an idiot to put Ginny to the job - she would finish shopping a month later.

Other than her and Harry, Blaise was the only one who knew how things worked in the muggle world. Hence, he was getting her tickets and preparing everything for the flight while Ginny was helping her get everything organized. George had rushed off to the shop to collect as much weapon-y stuff from there as he could but she had told him to calm down and that she would write him a separate letter telling him exactly what kind of things she needed.

Ron and Draco were trying their best to keep her sane, making drinks and tea and coffee and eatables throughout the night. It was midnight when she realized that she hadn't made any living arrangements.

She hence decided to Floo Theo, and against her better judgment, asked him if he could arrange a well-maintained house for her. He had asked for the specific city and she had told him somewhere near Virginia Beach. As it happened, Blaise' family had a very old manor there, surprisingly near Mystic Falls, which almost made her mentally sag with relief. She only replied with a short 'It will do' though.

* * *

She travelled for 12 hours on the plane and spent most of them catching up on her sleep from the last two days. She was itching to either read a book or take out some archive papers so that she at least had an idea on what she was facing. As it was, she only remembered that Vampires preyed on human blood and were known as creatures of the night because they couldn't come out in the sun. And that was about it. She knew no technicalities and that was why she was dying to read at least _something_. Unfortunately, she had foolishly packed no books in her handbag – at least none that Luna had gathered. So she took out her copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard and kept to it.

She landed in Richmond at about 3 o'clock. A man leaning against a large black SUV was holding a board that had her name on it. She walked over confusedly and the man put the board down, as if recognizing her.

"Hi, is this for me?"

"Yes, Ms. Granger."

"How do you know me?"

"Mr. Nott was very clear over your appearance, Miss." The stranger said with a friendly smile, eyeing her hair, and she smiled back tiredly.

"So, are you here to drop me or is the car for me?" she said, hoping it was former, as she was sure she couldn't sit for much long anywhere.

"I am to drop you on this-" he fished out a piece of paper from his jacket and handed it to her,"-address, and then leave the car with you."

"So the car's mine?" she said, moving to inspect the beast. She could tell it belonged to Theo – there was a sticker of a green and silver dragon along one side and the quote "Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titilandus".

"Well, let's get on with it then."

Before she could fully question the fact that Theo had such a personalized car out here, in the States, she was asleep. She spent the next three hours knocked out on the back seat of the car. There was absolutely no energy in her to even check if it wasn't a kidnapper or something. On the up side, she would have at least some energy in her to check out the town.

The house was a few miles out of town, a large dark three storied building. It seemed to be made of paneled wood, and there was a bike parked outside.

The stranger parked the car in an old garage off the left side, and bid her welcome. The bike was his and he left after giving her the keys. The inside of the house was rather large and dirty. A staircase led off to rooms on the first floor. The ground floor had a large kitchen, a living area and a bar. There was a garden attached somewhere around the back, and all of it was in severe need of dusting.

Hermione wanted to collapse right on the dirty sofa but her stomach was growling quite loudly. She could tell that there was nothing edible inside the house, so she dumped all the luggage in her small bag in the living room, and fished put the car keys.

Her ride into town was smooth. The car was comfortable, the people helpful and she found the one cheerful restaurant that could provide her food.

'Mystic Grill' was absolutely packed, and she could tell without getting inside. She parked the car in the lot, and got out. There was a crowd in the front, or towards the front of the grill. A huge gaggle of people seemed to be leaving – the main doors kept opening and closing again and again, and she knew that her going against it would draw attention.

Making up her mind, she started walking towards the back, determined to find a back door. There was no one around this side of the building. A side door looked like it would lead inside the Grill, but she couldn't be sure. She was just about to cross the road towards it, when a large black jeep arrived and stopped right outside the place. She hid further into the shadows, as a tall man got off the vehicle. She could tell he was nicely built, broad-shouldered and muscled.

The man walked towards the opposite side of the road to where she was standing, away from the door, as if heading for someone. But she saw no one there, except-

"Damon? What, more dog jokes?"

Another man walked forward, as if out of nowhere, dressed in all black. She couldn't see his face, but she could see the broad shouldered one. They seemed to know each other already.

"Nah. Those got old." the other one said, and he promptly stabbed the man.

Hermione just stifled her gasp, as she turned away from the scene with wide eyes. What was going on here?

She did not dare to move though, what if one of them was a vampire? When she looked back, the stabbed man was huffing on the ground, and the other seemed to have walked away out of her line of vision. She was about to move forward and see if she could help, when the man himself pulled out the knife and got up.

She stumbled back again, keeping her eyes fixed on the men. She could now see the other guy – Damon –just some steps away, and he looked as shocked and confused as she felt.

"You know, I think it was werewolves who started this whole silver myth. Probably for moments like this."

Wait, _werewolves_?

"Duly noted." Damon said, backing away from the other guy slowly.

"You know, I was really looking forward to the last call." the possible werewolf said, feeling around his chest for a wound that was obviously not there. Yep, werewolf confirmed. "And now you've made an enemy."

Hermione was too shocked at the nature of the scene she had just witnessed, to notice that Damon was standing in the middle of the road. She needed to get out of there soon or he would discover her. Did that mean that this Damon guy was a vampire? A mere human would not be stupid enough to stab a werewolf. But what if he didn't know the other guy was a werewolf? This made absolutely no sense.

She apparated as quietly as she could, right inside her car. There she had a moment to breathe and gather her wits – she now recognized at least one werewolf, one possible vampire, and she hadn't unpacked yet. This town was absolute madness!

She pulled out her wand from her purse and stuck it inside her jacket. She really needed to write to George about those weapons soon, if there were werewolves being stabbed in the back of pubs here.

By Merlin, this evening just kept getting longer and longer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Hermione entered the Grill from the front door. Low profile be damned, back doors were too dangerous in this town. She had been in five minutes and she'd already witnessed one show.

It wasn't much crowded inside now, and she could see an empty table right in the back. She was about to head towards it, when she spotted the man called Damon, sitting at the bar, looking very still.

She could sit in the corner and have a quiet meal or she could be at the bar, with a chance to meet the Damon guy, the possible vampire, and find out something new. Plus, see if something stronger than water was available.

Sighing, she made her way towards the bar. As much as she wanted no more drama for the night, she really couldn't afford to lose the only opportunity for a major lead.

She sat carefully, as her knees were still sore and a blond boy bustled over. "What can I get you?" he said, his voice surprisingly heavy. He looked to be a teenager, with striking blue eyes. "Uh, what's best for dinner here?" she asked.

"You're new?" he said, eyeing her with interest. It was the accent, of course. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Damon look up, but didn't dare to look his way."I'm Matt. Matt Donovan. I work here. I've never seen you here before…?" the blond boy inquired again and she smiled tiredly. "Yes, I just got here in fact. I'm Hermione Granger."

They shook hands and Matt suggested sandwiches and fries and she ordered him to bring anything that was stronger than water. Matt had to be in high school, she decided, as she watched him work for a minute or two. He kept staring at a blonde girl sitting alone at a table, who seemed determined to avoid eye contact.

She thought for a while about Matt – if he was still in school but also waiting tables, it meant he either had many people to support back home or none at all. Meanwhile, she risked a glance towards Damon, and saw him sitting very rigidly, moving minimally. She watched him for another solid minute – it looked like he was concentrating very hard on something.

She made a mental note of it; feeling like there had to be an explanation there. She finally looked around some more and noticed a couple sitting together, a dark haired boy and a girl, talking slowly. Matt seemed to have his attention divided among the blonde and the couple, taking every small excuse to pass by their table, clearly trying to eavesdrop on the conversation.

As she watched, the couple seemed to have an argument – and the girl got up and left the place. Hermione turned back to her sandwich, sighing pathetically to herself. It was only finally dawning on her how utterly alone she was – in this new town, new country, new continent. She missed everyone back home.

She was slowly picking on her sandwich, thinking idly about who she would have brought with her if given the choice, when she felt someone move onto the seat beside her.

It was the Damon guy.

"Any specific reason you were staring?" he said, leaning in far too close for comfort, and pouring his drink in her glass, having noticed that she had just emptied it. She leaned back and raised an eyebrow at him; looking at him properly for the first time. He was very handsome, if she said so herself – all high cheekbones and light eyes. He was smirking broadly, perhaps happy that his lack of respect for personal space made her uncomfortable.

"Nope." she said, and sipped the liquid from her glass. Wow, _Bourbon_. Thanks to Theo and Harry's fondness for alcohol, she knew what was what when she tasted it.

Her surprise must have shown on her face, because Damon's smirk grew wider, "Too strong?"

"No. Exactly what I was craving actually." she said, and proceeded to drain her glass at once. This was _nice_.

She waved her empty glass in his face and he half-smiled, calling over the guy at the bar. "Another drink for the lady!"

"Hermione Granger, pleasure to meet you. I'm new to the town." she said, offering her hand. She wasn't really a fan of introductions, as the reaction to her name was rather extreme – not that it should be here. She noted his expression carefully but there was no recognition there. He accepted her hand, before bending slightly, kissing it. Every _inch_ of expression flirted shamelessly. "Damon Salvatore."

She stared at him, unimpressed. His smirk fell slowly, and he released her hand. Her mouth involuntarily twitched upwards at his falling expression though, enjoying his discomfort.

"Damon." She finally said aloud, testing the name. It had a nice ring to it, rolled off the tongue nicely. So he was Italian – or at least, Italian origins. "Nice." She nodded, turning back to her sandwich.

His smirk was immediately back in place. "Hermione… Unique." He said, copying her. "So what brings you here, little Brit?"

"Don't call me that." She exclaimed, silently wondering what she could state as her reason for coming. "I'm here for research purposes." She said finally, "I'm a student. But I just stopped here because there's nothing to eat at the house. I have lots to do right now. Unpack everything, make the place livable, etc." she rambled a bit, stopping herself to take a drink.

"Oh right. Would you like any help with that?" Damon said, with utmost sincerity in his voice. She snapped her neck to look up at him, panicked. What could she say? She couldn't really tell her address to a complete stranger – a possible vampire at that. But he was just being nice, right? She only needed a viable excuse to put him down.

Before she could think anymore, the blonde girl – the one who Matt kept staring at - had just started walking towards Damon, when she stopped suddenly, noticing Hermione. She made a disgusting face and backed away, turning to leave.

"Who's that blonde girl? She seemed like she wanted to talk to you." she said instead, forgetting about his question. Damon shifted around to look at her retreating back, and turned back with a slight grimace.

"Ah, she's… an ex-girlfriend, you could say. She's not that important." he said, pulling a face, and she raised an eyebrow. "That's rude."

"It doesn't matter. She was only doing it to get back on her best friend for dating a guy she liked first, who happened to be my younger brother." he rolled his eyes as he said it, and emptied another glass.

She went back to her sandwich, noting from the corner of her eye that he was appraising her closely, shamelessly looking her up and down. It made her feel uncomfortable and… something else. It was a weird feeling – she wasn't sure she liked it.

"Any chance she's involved with Matt?" she asked, fishing for conversation topics, and coming up blank.

He looked surprised, and leaned in to whisper, "Yep. They were dating until yesterday."

She nodded, "Figures. He was staring at her."

Damon went back to his drink, and she couldn't place the expression on his face for a few seconds, before his usual smirk was back.

"So, you notice an awful lot for a newcomer in town."

"I notice an awful lot _because_ I'm a newcomer in town, Damon."

"Hmm… That's another way to see it." He conceded, nodding.

"Well, you're an awfully untrusting fellow." She commented, taking another bite, trying to stare at him discretely. He was one of those kinds of people – those who were nice to look at, the kind that just happened to have struck on a nice DNA.

Eye candy, Ginny called them.

He scoffed lightly at her question, a bitter edge to his voice, "Distrust is the only weapon we have against betrayal."

"Behind every distrustful girl is a boy who made her that way." She said, quoting Luna a reminiscent smile on her face. Damon looked up at her, surprised; though his eyes were suddenly… they looked much less light.

Hermione had to admit it to herself in that moment – she was intrigued. Very much so. What had happened to him?

He looked away quickly – and she went back to her drink, realizing that she had probably stared too much.

"Wait, did you just refer to me as the _girl_?" He said suddenly, horrified, and just like that – it was over. Hermione burst out laughing, coughing a bit on her drink, but she couldn't stop.

"Sorry mate." She coughed, "You look like you would rather die than be called… that."

He smiled then, which was a huge contrast to his smirk, and Hermione shook her head at him, smiling back.

"Well, as much as I would like to continue this, I have a cat waiting to be fed back home." She said finally, dragging herself up. Damon stood up as well.

"Listen, would you like help with settling down? I'm free tomorrow evening – my brother's dragging me to this History Volunteer thing tomorrow. If I have plans, I'll be able to get out quick. Theoretically."

Hermione regarded him for a second–he actually seemed sincere–before nodding, "Okay sure." She tried to sound more excited, but she was actually hoping she didn't regret this. He was still a stranger, albeit a very interesting one at that.

* * *

What a completely weird gal. She was British – that lessened the stakes on her being a threat. The research thing could be a good cover story, except that she did look rather young to be meddling around in supernatural affairs. Not to mention, she was a midget – taking care of her would be too easy in case she got too involved.

"Bad day?"

Oh no. He had already been feeling less than happy with himself – what with the Mason business and the Brit getting his guard down with her stupid wise words, even though it was just for a second. And she was absolutely right, of course.

Anyway, facing the biggest mistake of his life wasn't really on his list today. But he knew Katherine, if she found out that she actually got to him in any way, she would be worse.

"Bad Century." Damon replied, stopping, "Heard you were on the loose."

"What's the matter? Jealous I spent the day with Stefan?"

Pff. If only. He wasn't making those mistakes again. "I don't do jealous. Not with you. Not anymore."

He started walking, hoping she would leave it at that. Maybe disappear. Fly away.

"Why so pouty?" No luck. Well, if this was what he had to endure, so be it. He wouldn't get into any stupid traps with her today.

"Tried to kill a werewolf. Failed. Now I feel like I'm not living up to my best self." That's it. Keep it to business.

"Well, werewolves aren't easy prey." She said, following him. He looked back, interested. _Of course_ she knew about werewolves. She might have been a bitch, but she was old, in the supernatural sense.

"What do you know about werewolves?"

"Why don't you ask your brother?"

His brother? So _that_ was what he had been up to all day… and the reason for his recent… fight, with Elena.

"Don't try to be the hero, Damon. You'll end up dead."

"Been there. Done that. At least this time, this will have been worth it." He didn't know why she always made the blow below the belt. He hoped that she cared though, because two could play that game. He started walking away again, and sighed when he heard no footsteps following.

Even the little conversations with Katherine were very… emotionally exhausting. He wished he could let go of all that excess frustration and anger and just be over this. But how to deal with 150 years of pent up emotions, he really didn't know.

"By the way, I heard you with Granger. Wise one, isn't she?" Katherine spoke from inside his car. Wait, what? She knew Hermione?

He furrowed his brow, titling his head, "How do you know her?"

She smirked pointedly at him, and he had a split second urge to strangle her. "Let's just say that you might want to stay away from that one."

And she was gone.

* * *

Hermione was not particularly happy with the state of the house. She had asked for a house in livable condition but this was very much not so. A thick layer of dust covered every damn surface, and she had to scourgify some things three times to even dare to touch them. By midnight, she had finished dusting the living room and kitchen and had enlarged all her luggage to its original size. When she could do no more, she had fell asleep on the sofa after casting some wards around the house.

The next day was similar, making the house livable. There were three bedrooms, all large enough to be masters, and one small one. She discovered a hidden door behind the bar in the afternoon, where she found a huge basement. She thankfully dumped all her books there and promptly owled Luna for more – to collect some specific titles from the Black Library and the Hogwarts Library, at least those that she could remember.

She had yet to set the furniture and clothes. She had actually wanted to get all the magic stuff done, in case Damon showed up in the evening. She finally decided to sit down and read up on all the information that the Ministry had already gathered, especially the story of The Hybrid. It was a fascinating read, so many emotions and impulsiveness was the main problem of the Mikealsons. And it looked like the guy Klaus, had inherited the worst of every situation.

It was a first hand account of the whole story – she assumed the officials had managed to get him under control, and administered the use of Veritaserum. It felt like she was reading a novel, with very intricate details of every emotion he had felt – especially during the main turning points of his life.

She scoured the complete archives for every inch of information that would help her currently, and was surprised to discover the time when she finally went upstairs for dinner. It was almost ten, and also nearing the closing time at the Grill. She had still not done any Grocery shopping.

She drove to the town, thinking of Damon again. He hadn't called or texted. She wasn't disappointed; she had not really expected him to actually come over. He had his own life to live after all, and she was also somewhat relieved. He was just being polite then.

She parked in the almost empty lot and rushed inside the Grill to see Matt getting ready to close up the place. "Hey, can I get a late meal?"

"Hi. Hermione. I don't think I can..." he said, looking towards the kitchen uncertainly.

"Please? I just finished unpacking and forgot to do the Grocery shopping in the day."

"Alright. But no drinks."

"Deal."

Matt sat and waited as she ate, and she hesitantly asked him about Caroline. He seemed hesitant to talk too, but when he finally did, she was glad she asked. Matt had apparently been attacked by an animal in the woods one day, and it had freaked Caroline out, though she had escaped. That was his theory, though he said that she made it like they broke up over a girl.

Caroline had gotten out of an animal attack? Sure, that would be a valid reason to put someone off, but when she remembered that she had dated Damon once, the bell went off. Could Caroline be one too…?

Nuh-uh. If she kept putting everyone associated with Damon in that category, she doubted she would have anyone left to trust. Matt was the only one who seemed normal enough.

She had asked him, discreetly of course, if he had seen Damon, but he hadn't. Not since the Historical Society thing. Matt had looked like he wanted to say something on the matter, but stopped himself.

Instead, they had then talked about family. She had simply replied that her parents were dead and she lived with her best friend. She talked shortly about Harry, and Ron, and all the rest, and it seemed like a weight off her chest. Sure, talking about them had made her sad, but it had felt nice to share. Matt apparently had a wayward mother, and his sister Vicki, had died a few months ago. Just the way he said it made it clear that he was very much not over it.

She felt herself pitying the boy, and tried to cheer him up a bit by recalling some of her adventures with Ron and Harry.

"And I ended punching him instead!" she giggled, and Matt laughed along with her.

"Well, at least now I know not to get on your bad side."

"Mind it." She said, punching his arm, as they walked towards her car, having finished up.

"So how're you getting home?" She asked, ready to give him a ride if he liked.

"My truck." He gestured to the other end of the lot, and she could make out a huge vehicle.

"Cool. It was really nice to see you Matt. Thanks for the meal. And everything." She said, and he smiled warmly, "Sure. Listen, you should take my number, in case you need any help."

"Oh yeah sure. I don't really know anyone here anyway." They exchanged numbers and she waved him goodbye and waited till he was in his truck to start driving.

Matt was a really nice person. He had given her no suspicious hints till now, though his sister's death seemed a mystery. She was glad that she made him a friend though.

Eventually, her thoughts strayed to Damon, and she decided that she would call him once, just to make sure he was fine. He had seemed keen on the idea, though she still wasn't really sure about him.

* * *

Caroline Forbes looked a lot better when she was sleeping and not talking. Damon was angry after today's events. He was sure as heck going to rip that idiot Mason into two the next time he came into his line of sight. It was late, and Elena had left after her very passionate speech to Stefan.

She was very different to Katherine, and Damon liked her. But it wasn't like he was trying to steal her away or anything. Their small spat had taught him that she really was related to Katherine. He didn't really want anything to do with that bitch in his life. So it was Elena's good luck that she was his brother's girl. He would have liked to kill her maybe, if he hadn't known her. But he wouldn't do that to his brother now. As much as he... disliked Stefan, he knew those two were better off with each other.

Just then, his phone vibrated and Hermione's name flashed on the screen. He didn't even know why he had given her his number. There was something about the girl, that was different. Maybe because she was British, or because her eyes screamed that she had numerous secrets, the natural way she noticed everything around her so alertly, as if she was learning everything for a lesson. And then he had leaned in to whisper something, and got a sniff of her blood.

She smelt like some sort of human-animal combination. There was human blood and there was a small hint of an animal's blood. He just couldn't place _which_ one. So he had felt the need to stay in contact with the mystery. Not to mention that surprising moment of understanding they had shared.

As he was thinking, the call went to voicemail and Hermione's voice broke through the silence around him, nervous and uncertain. "Hey, Damon. You never got in contact after the Volunteer Party. Matt said you didn't even come back to the Grill. I have a bad kind of feeling here. I don't know why, you're probably at your house safe and all, but I just... Uh, call me whenever you're free. Just want to know if you're fine. Or ignore this. I know I shouldn't follow my guts like Harry..." the last part of the message was muttered to herself, but he heard anyway.

He wanted to call back, talk, and tell her he was fine, but he wasn't actually. He wasn't ever fine. He was _dead,_ for God's sake. And he was confused. Why did the little Brit even want to know he was fine? He really shouldn't have given her the number. There was no use pretending he could actually be friends with her, because she would obviously get dragged into his messes. So it was better he didn't get involved.

As far the situation of her blood went, he had Mason Lockwood to deal with first. When he finished that bastard, he would track down Katherine and find out about Hermione himself. Plus, it was better if Stefan didn't know. He only hoped Katherine would keep her mouth shut for some time and let him deal with this one alone.

* * *

The morning found Hermione determined to finish the unpacking completely. She laboriously worked through the day to completely set her clothes and the furniture properly throughout the house. It was almost noon as she finished the whole thing and the place was spotless. She had yet to eat anything so after casting the proper wards around the house, and strengthening the old ones, she drove off once again, to the Grill. It was Matt, as usual, who received her and she was happy to see him. He sat for a while with her, listening to her woes of jet lag and unpacking, and sympathizing, like a good friend. He would help of course, if he could ever get leave from the Grill. But they were on a shortage of staff and… oh well, she was finished anyway.

She took her sweet time, eating slowly. It was two sandwiches later that she realized that she was still kind of hungry. She ordered a burger instead and Matt raised his eyebrows, but went away to get it. She watched the other people there out of boredom but the place was relatively less crowded. So she wasn't surprised when Matt sat opposite her again, having added fries to her order voluntarily.

"What's with the food? Didn't you have breakfast?" he said, folding his arms and sitting back comfortably. She shook her head in a negative and grimaced, "I came here as soon as I finished the work, to be honest."

"Oh. You'll be doing the grocery shopping today then, I suppose?"

"Yep. Any suggestions?"

Matt told her of two stores, one of which was not far from the Grill and the other was just on border of town. The second one would be more helpful to her, she decided.

"Thanks for that. So are you done with high school, Matt?"

"No. I will be in Senior year soon, though. What about you? You look too young to be in college…"

"Oh," she laughed rather embarrassedly; people thought this all the time because of her height.

"Well, how do I put this, I am starting college, you could say, and this is just for extra credit."

"Wait, you're here for studies? What's the topic for your… well, work?"

"It's basically just history mostly." She shrugged in a non committal way. "This town is apparently very rich."

Matt nodded, "Yeah, that's right. There are a few raw sights outside of town and very abstract history too. And we always have some event or the other to look forward to. There's the Masquerade Ball coming up at the Lockwood's this week. Speaking of which, I have to help out decorations there the day after tomorrow." He grimaced slightly at that Hermione grinned pityingly.

"How'd you get roped into that?"

"Oh, I'm friends with Tyler Lockwood. He made sure I was roped in when he was, It's kind of compulsory for him – Mrs. Lockwood's the mayor."

"Hmm… so any chance I can help you there?"

Matt looked surprised at that, but she was lucky she tripped on this piece of information. A party was all she needed to make some new acquaintances and if she could just volunteer for the preparations, and maybe squirm out of going to Ball thing itself, it could work.

"Well, I think Elena's Aunt Jenna was responsible for volunteers. I can recommend your name to her, if you want…?"

Elena… who was she? And she would have to talk to people herself, especially this Aunt Jenna. She asked Matt for directions to their house, confirming first that she would be home today. He assured that she would, and possibly Elena too. He also explained a bit about Elena, how she had lost her parents in a car accident last summer and had been his girlfriend before that. He sounded kind of over her, but she couldn't be sure.

Car accidents always sounded very cliché to her. It was probably just since she had heard that that was what Harry had been fed about his parents' death. Hence, they always kind of gave a sense of suspicion to her. Hopefully, it wasn't so with Elena.

* * *

She looked around at the slight, white building as she followed up the steps and rang the bell once. She wringed her hands nervously, hoping Aunt Jenna was home as Matt had claimed. There were very loud and heavy footsteps and the door was pulled wide open by a lanky, but broad shouldered teenager, who looked surprised at finding her at the door.

Well so was she. She smiled hesitantly at him and he sort of frown-smiled back at her. "How can I help you?"

"Oh, sorry. I was looking for Jenna Summers…?" she wondered if she had even found the right house.

"Aunt Jenna! There's a woman at the door for you!" he shouted, turning backwards to what looked like the kitchen. "Come on in." he said, and moved away from the door.

"Thanks." She said, and was led to the drawing room just off the hallway, as a woman shouted 'Coming' from the kitchen.

"I'm Jeremy Gilbert, by the way." He shook her hand, and she could see him appraising her curiously. She really didn't like introductions.

"Hermione Granger." She said, just as a young woman, probably in her mid-twenties, entered the room. She looked too young and blonde to be called Aunt.

"Hi. Do I know you?" she said, rather puzzled, taking a seat, as Jeremy retreated to the kitchen.

"Uh, no. Sorry, I was referred to you by Matt. Matt Donovan."

"Oh right. What's this about? I don't think I've seen you around before." She said, looking carefully at her, seemingly deciding that she was young enough for school.

"I'm new to town, Ms Summers. I just moved here less than a week ago."

"Oh please, call me Jenna. And you look too young for college. How old are you?"

"I'm actually 19, but I don't look because of the height."

They both chuckled and Jenna asked her what she would like to drink, to which she hastily declined, wanting to get down to business.

"I'm sorry, I would have liked to stay longer, really, but I still have to do some grocery shopping before I head home."

"Oh, okay. Where are you staying?"

"My friend's parents have a house here, it was abandoned but we got it cleaned up. It's right outside town, though I don't know the names of the streets well enough to explain." Hermione shrugged apologetically.

Jenna smiled again and finally asked her how she could help her, and how she knew Matt. Hermione explained her situation, almost truthfully, that she would like to meet new people and what better than volunteering for a Ball preparation? Which was, of course, a lie. _Everything_ was better than a Ball preparation.

She explained how she had met Matt, and what he had told her this morning, to which Jenna slightly blushed, confessing that she was sucker for Balls and she was happy to help the Lockwoods in her little way. She also assured that she would add her name to the list, and gave her the Lockwood's address, telling her that the prepping up would start the day after tomorrow and she should be there by 10.

Hermione thanked her and Jenna invited her for tea again, whenever she would like to come and was free, to which she replied with a gracious 'soon'.

Well, now that was something settled finally.

* * *

Evening found Hermione lying on her bed, eyes closed and thinking about what she would do for the rest of the night. The only thing she could think of was reading. She had to read up everything she could find on the topic of vampires. Then search up the town's history tomorrow, put the pieces together with the help of the archives and make sure she knew everything. Only then could she afford to jump into any mess.

Sometimes, she really wondered why they had stopped calling her a know-it-all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Heydo people! New look. Big time gap. Sort of my thing. But longer chapters! And I have the next few updates ready! So go on and read and quickly tell me what you think of all the development? I'm very excited. And also sorry for such a late late late update, but I guess you'll accept my apology better if it's topped with a good chapter. I promise fortnight updates. XD**

 **This and the previous chapters were Beta-ed by the amazing _lavanyalabelle_. Read and review coz I'm looking for to hearing from you guys! **

**Chapter 3**

Hermione inhaled deeply – enjoying the sense of familiarity the smell of old books brought her. She was roaming in the history section of the Mystic Falls library the next day – it was located just next to the High School, and she was glad to discover that it was nicely stocked. Especially the History section, though she couldn't figure out where to-

"Oof!"

"Sorry!" she said, stumbling back, having just collided with someone at the turn – she hadn't really been paying attention to where she was going.

"Hermione? What're you doing here?"

She looked up, surprised at the familiar voice, to see Jeremy Gilbert grinning at her.

"Oh, Hi Jeremy. I was just… looking around, I guess." She stumbled a bit on her words, surprised to see him. She hadn't actually been expecting to run into anyone who knew her.

That was stupid of her, actually. She had forgotten that it was a small town and everyone still went to school here. "So how are you? Jenna said you wanted to volunteer for Masquerade Ball preparation." Jeremy said, walking with her towards a table. She followed him, not really knowing how to avoid the conversation, as she had no excuse.

"Ah, yes. I was desperate. I'm kind of regretting it now." She grimaced, and Jeremy chuckled. "I figured. I guess you didn't really have anything else to do, eh?"

"Yes. That, and I wanted to meet some new people. Mingle. Get some hands on information." She shrugged, eyeing him as he nodded at her, taking out a few books from his bag.

"What kind of information? Anything specific you're looking for?" he questioned, looking genuinely ready to help.

She raised an eyebrow, surprised. She hadn't realized that Jeremy Gilbert, out of everyone would help her. What was he again, 16? She pursed her lips, thinking. Well, he surely wouldn't have the kind of information _she_ was looking for.

"Well, this might be weird, but the topic of my research is actually the supernatural history of this town." She said finally, and was surprised to see him smiling knowingly.

"Heh. That's not a first."

* * *

Damn. Had she been entirely wrong about this kid.

Jeremy Gilbert was a _jackpot_. She hadn't known that the boy was smart, and more so, had the exact information that she wanted. They had talked in the library for hours. Hours, and Hermione was glad that she'd brought her notebook with her. They had talked, and she had made notes, her brain working at a furious pace.

The main year that she had been concerned with, 1864, was something Jeremy knew a lot about – The Battle of Willow Creek, the shooting on the church, the numbers of civilians that were sacrificed.

Something was wrong though. She couldn't really place it, but she had a feeling that Jeremy's knowledge was not just bookish. He sounded like he had been speaking from some experience, and when he talked about the firing, there was definitely something off. If she didn't know better, she would have thought he was hiding something.

Anyway, it was afternoon when they were finally done and Hermione had been more excited than ever. Jeremy seemed happy to help her, and offered to meet her at the Grill in the evening. She had rushed home, deciding she would have something quick for lunch. Currently, she was just prepping the pasta and sauce, when there was a knock at the door.

She walked towards the entrance slowly, frowning – no one knew that she lived here, yet. She mentally checked the wards- no warning signals.

She opened the door, to see Jeremy's nervous face. "Hi." She said, surprised. They had just said goodbye, like, an hour ago.

"Hey, listen, I figured you would like to see some original documents from the Founder's time – in 1864. I totally forgot to mention it – Whoa. Big house you got." He exclaimed, an extremely surprised look on his face as he came inside, following her to the kitchen.

She chuckled, amused, and shook her head. "Seriously Jer. You could have waited. But you're welcome here anytime. And thank you."

He smiled, settling down on one of the chairs in the kitchen, "Thanks. I didn't really think and we were getting stuff done and you seemed excited. I didn't think we would have time in the evening, and I would have called but I don't have your number." He smiled apologetically.

"Ah, yes. I completely forgot."

They exchanged numbers, as Hermione stirred the pasta. It was done. "Hey, you didn't have lunch, did you? Want some pasta?" she said, already putting it in two plates.

"Sure, smells good."

"So how'd you find the house?" she said, bustling about the kitchen, getting some tea ready.

"Oh, I remembered you telling Jenna that it was just outside of town – it was easy to find."

She hummed, and they ate for a while in silence, before she decided to resume their academic conversation.

"So what are these original documents you mentioned?"

* * *

"So the there were these few founding families that signed the treaty and established the town, and now they have a secret Founder's Council so that they can rub it in everyone's faces?" she said, as they moved further in the row, looking at the old documents.

They were at the small museum-like room of the Lockwood's house – where all the documents were always stored away, taken out when only when they had to be displayed for an event.

"Supposedly secret. And hey, I'm from one of the Founding Families too." Jeremy said, following behind her, "Y'know what? There was this original treaty somewhere here, with the names of all the members."

They moved along a few rows, and they found it. She quietly read off the names, until-

 _Stefan Salvatore_

 _Damon Salvatore_

She tried not to show much surprise, or give Jeremy any notice of what she had just discovered. This confirmed it.

Stefan and Damon had to be same the same brothers from 1864, who had signed the treaty. They were both vampires. Given, she had only met Damon until now, but the brother he had mentioned- that had to be Stefan. She was 90 percent sure now.

* * *

Soon after, they headed to the Grill, waving at Matt as they settled at a table.

"You know Matt?" Jeremy asked, surprised, as she looked through the menu for once.

"Yup. I met him the first night I arrived here. Him and Damon." She said, adding the last part as an afterthought, mostly just to see his reaction.

He didn't disappoint. His eyebrows rose high in surprise, and he let out a scoff, "Damon?"

She had half expected it, but it didn't stop her from throwing a sharp look his way, "Yeah. Why?"

"Nothing." He said, avoiding her eyes, and calling over a waitress.

"Seriously, what is it? Even Matt acted weird when I bought him up." She said, looking hard at him, but he still didn't react.

"Two sandwiches please." He said to the waitress, still ignoring her.

"Jer!" she snapped her fingers in front of his face, forcing him to look at her. "Okay, seriously. Spill. Now."

He looked at her quietly for a moment, considering, before apparently deciding something.

"I'm not really supposed to say, and it's better if you don't bring this up with anyone else, ok?" he sighed, lowering his voice, even though there weren't many people around them.

She nodded her confirmation, frowning. She really hoped Damon hadn't done anything much too drastic, especially now that she was almost sure that he was a vampire.

"Stefan and Damon came into town just last year, and in the beginning he dated Caroline. Now, I don't know the details but Elena told me that he was… abusive. Caroline had all these bruises over her body and when they found out, he didn't even deny it. Caroline still doesn't talk to it about anyone and Elena hates him too. I mean, Elena's dating Stefan, so she would know him right?"

Hermione was… confused. Damon hadn't seemed the abusive type. And if Caroline hated him, why was she coming to talk to him that day? And wait…

"Elena's dating Stefan? Stefan Salvatore?" she wondered aloud, thinking fast. And they had arrived in town last year… "How long have they been together?"

Jeremy was frowning at her too, and it didn't take Hermione long to realize that he apparently knew exactly where her thoughts were wandering off to. "Almost six months… maybe." He said slowly, still looking at her with calculating eyes.

She needed to calm down. Elena had to know about Stefan and Damon. But… could it be that Jeremy did too? And how was Caroline involved in all this mess?

"That's… confusing." She said finally, still frowning. She had to take another approach to this. The age old gossip exchange.

"So hit me with the Drama from the beginning. I think I'm missing something here."

* * *

Bull's Eye.

Not that she was surprised, to be honest. She had a fair amount of practice with hitting her spells on targets; what were darts compared to that?

And Jeremy was a good competitor – and a sore loser.

"How are you so good at this?" Jeremy almost whined, as she grinned at him.

"It's magic!" she giggled, as Jeremy scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Sure, sure. You just cannot hit the center every time. It's unfair." He said again, and she couldn't help but smile as Matt walked over.

"Jeremy Gilbert's ass being kicked at darts? That's something I never thought I'd see." Matt mocked, and Jeremy made a face at him.

"It's a talent I have. And Jer, I thought you said you were a believer?" Hermione teased, as Matt clapped Jeremy on the back.

Apparently, exchanging gossip like meddling old biddies made one familiar enough to the other for the shortening of Jeremy to Jer. Thank Merlin, he hadn't taken to calling her Herms. She hated that nickname.

"Yeah, in the vampires and werewolf stuff. Not your dart-throwing magic." He replied, trying to throw another, but missing again, causing Matt to laugh aloud.

After the gossiping was over, they had moved to the supernatural stuff, finally. Apparently, Jeremy had seemed so… knowledgeable, because he had read about the Battle in one of his ancestor's journals. He had also mentioned that though he thought his ancestor was insane, there was some truth to the tales of vampires being present in Mystic Falls. He had talked about a paper he had written for Mr. Saltzman last October – the history teacher who was also dating Jenna – in which he had covered the topic of the existence of vampires. He had the records of periodical animal attacks taking place in Mystic Falls, bodies drained of blood, people going missing, the usual jazz.

All the time, he had talked objectively, from the outsider's point of view, but Hermione was almost sure that Jeremy knew everything. The first reason was – his sister dating a vampire for over half a year, and the second – well, Jeremy was too serious and far too knowledgeable about the town's history for a normal 16 year old.

Somewhere along the way, he had reminded her of herself at sixteen. Involved in everything dark, mysterious and dangerous because her best friend needed her help. And Elena was Jeremy's sister; she couldn't imagine him staying away.

"Mione, it's your turn!" she felt Matt shove her a bit, and looked up at him surprised at hearing him say the nickname.

Unbeknownst to her, a smile had formed on her face, reminding her of Harry, Ron, and all the others back home. Merlin, she missed them! Meanwhile, Matt and Jeremy were staring at her like she was a loon, which she probably looked like - smiling at nothing.

"Oh, sorry guys." She said, a yawn escaping her mouth. "I think I should head home. I'm really tired with all the running around we did today."

Matt looked questioningly at her, while Jeremy nodded. "Thank you so much for helping me out, Jer. I'm really really really glad I bumped into you today." She grinned at him and he lightly punched her shoulder.

"No problem Hermione. Thanks for the lunch, and I had fun too. You can call me anytime if you need help with anything." He replied, while she said goodbye to Matt.

"You call me too, Jer ...unless it's divination."she muttered under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Uh-what? Nothing. I was just saying that same goes for you, Matt. See you guys later. Bye!"

* * *

That evening, Hermione deduced her way to a few conclusions:

Stefan and Damon were vampires and Jeremy and Elena most probably knew about them.

Matt was innocent in all of this.

Caroline was a grey area, though the girl was pretty messed up.

Stefan and Damon Salvatore had some serious history in this town.

She remembered the part where Jeremy had also shed light on the fact that Damon had been less than happy with Elena and Stefan's relationship and had tried to sabotage it repeatedly – something about a complicated ex. Now, she would give anything to find out what exactly was going on _there_.

She honestly didn't even know why it interested her so much but it just did. Somehow, she had a feeling that they were more connected to things going on this town than anyone else here. Not to mention the fact, that their story was the only part of the equation that she wasn't able to add up.

* * *

 _Dear Harry, Ron, Lav, Luna, Neville, Ginny, George, Draco, Blaise and Theo (though I doubt he's there),_

 _I hope all of you are okay. I'm fine, thanks for being so concerned. I mean okay, I told you it's a secret mission and all that but at least one of you could have written. Especially, you- Draco, I know you have means other than letters and all. Whatever. Glad to know you guys care._

 _Things are fine here. The place where I am is dangerous but I'm handling myself well so far. I just wish you guys could have been here. Anyway, I have made a few friends here, I guess. There's Matt – he works at the only restaurant here, and he's pretty much alone in the world. I pity him but he's a great person. There's Jeremy, who is great at history, and horrible at darts, as I just found out today. My work will probably start in another day, though you could say it's already started. I have some separate things to talk about with George and Luna, so if you guys could just take the two letters I'v sent with this, that'd be great._

 _Harry, I hope you're not getting into much trouble, and don't skiv off work much. Ron, please take care of him, and try to lose some weight while I'm away. Draco, try not to get overwhelmed with anyone's stupidity and kill them. Blaise, I'v written my phone number on the back of this letter – you know what to do. Gin, concentrate on your Quidditch and write to me if you have any international tours coming up. Nev, anything new you got for me? Any progress with that kid Wress? Lavender, I'm really sorry to leave you with all my burden. Feel free to send me some paperwork if you want to. Surprisingly, I'm not that busy. Theo- you're a dick and I hate you. I thought you said a well-maintained house? Not a fucking century old horror house. (Thanks for the car though, ILY)_

 _Burn this letter when you're done._

 _I really really miss you all. Say Hi to Mrs. Weasley, Mrs. Tonks, Teddy and Bill and Charlie too._

 _I love you all,_

 _I wish I could see you all soon_

Hermione stamped the end of the letter with the seal on her fake galleon ring, and decided that she would send it off later after finding an owl in the woods.

* * *

Hermione spent the next day out, exploring the woods, trying to balance her thoughts. She had spent the first half reading, going over her notes, and then picking a few random books, hoping she could find something new. But things had gotten repetitive after the first few books – they all said the same things about vampires – the facts: how to kill one, how to become one, how to identify one, etc. She already knew all of that and what she was looking for now was the history of their making – other than the Originals.

She had already written to Luna for new books; she was hoping she could find out some more details about the history of these things from the wizarding point of view.

She was walking back towards her house – when she heard a twig crack. She whirled around, fingering her wand inside her sleeve, and decided there was something wrong. She couldn't see anyone but the forest was too quiet around her. She stared around for a moment, before speaking.

"Whoever's there please come out. Or this won't end well." She threatened, her wand almost in her hand. There was moment of silence, and then suddenly, a blonde girl was standing behind her.

She had rough, dirty blonde hair, and even from a foot away, Hermione could tell that she had been crying. Her eyes were swollen and puffy, and… and she looked familiar…

"Hi." She whispered, her voice hoarse, and still a bit thick with tears. She had a sudden flash of recognition, remembering her from the Grill on her first night.

"Caroline? What's wrong?" The words were out of her mouth before she could think twice, and she moved a few steps forward out of habit.

"How do you know me? And who are you?" Caroline said, her voice full of surprise, and taking a few steps back.

"Oh, we haven't been introduced I guess. Hermione Granger." She replied, sticking out her hand, which Caroline accepted after a few seconds of hesitation.

"I'm sorry." She said, wiping at her eyes, and trying to give her a faint smile, "I didn't mean to scare you then. I was just… going home."she said, her voice breaking on the last word.

Hermione eyed her beadily, deciding that vampire or not, the girl needed help. "That's alright. You look like you could use some hot chocolate though – my house is just around the corner, would you like to come?" she offered, her heart going out to the blonde, though she had no idea what had made her so sad.

Caroline considered her for a few seconds, blinking, then shrugged.

* * *

Caroline knew she shouldn't have accepted Hermione's offer, but things had just been so difficult that she felt completely out of it. She'd been living with Stefan and Damon for two days and she wanted to rip someone's head off. She knew they were only trying to help but their pitying looks only made her want to snap. Plus, the actual issue with her Mom – no wonder hot chocolate had sounded so good.

Hermione had talked all the short way to her house, telling her about how she had met Matt and how he talked so much about her, and still liked her. That had cheered her up a bit.

Meanwhile, they reached the house and Caroline felt herself hesitate – she hadn't been invited in.

"You can come in." She heard Hermione mutter to herself and frowned. Why had she done that? She couldn't… know? She adjusted her expression as Hermione kept walking like she hadn't said anything, and stepped carefully inside the gates. Immediately, she felt a shiver go up her spine, but it was over within a second.

She walked forward then, senses on high alert – something had to be wrong, or was she just being paranoid? Anyway, she kept walking but her eyes strayed from the bushy-haired back to her surroundings.

There was a huge garden on either side – a fountain on the left, with space to sit around it, and a lawn-type garden on the right which stretched towards the back. There was also the garage on their left where a large black SUV was parked.

The building itself looked as big and mysterious as the Salvatore Boarding house – wood paneled walls and floors, a large old-fashioned living room, stairs that lead to at least three rooms on the upper floor, she mentally counted, and a bar which hadn't been cleaned at all- completely unused.

Hermione made a beeline for the kitchen, which was through the living room – which, Caroline noticed had some pretty antique furniture and decoration and – was that silver?

"Wow. So you live here alone?" she asked as they entered the kitchen. She was surprised again – the kitchen was a stark contrast to the rest of the house. It was decked with all kinds of modern equipment and loaded with food. She belatedly wondered how Hermione had decorated her bedroom.

"Yeah. It actually belongs to my friend's ancestors, but no one's used it for centuries, so I'm sure they don't mind." Hermione replied offhandedly, bustling about the kitchen. That was when Caroline noticed an off smell that hung in the air – something itchy…

"Huh. Sure they won't. Don't you feel lonely? Or get bored?" she said distractedly, her mind still trying to figure out that smell.

"I do feel lonely, but I doubt anyone could get bored in _this_ town." Caroline's head snapped towards Hermione – but she was still busy with making the drink, not giving any hint that she had just made an intentional jibe. Caroline frowned at the girl's back – why was she pretending that she hadn't subtly emphasized the word 'this' just now?

"Yeah… but only the history enthusiasts." she replied finally, deciding to play dumb as well – two could play this game.

"So, want to share why you'd been crying while roaming around alone in the woods?" Hermione said, nodding towards her drink, as she settled herself on the small kitchen table.

Her tone was playful, but Caroline could detect the hint of concern in her voice. It made her even more confused about the British girl. What was she playing at? "It's nothing. I'm just being overly emotional." She sighed.

"Is it…" Hermione said tenderly, eyes full of sympathy, "Is it Matt? Because I know he's been worried about you. You really should talk to him once."

Caroline looked up surprised – she hadn't known she was that close to Matt. Whatever the case was, she did seem genuinely concerned. "It's not him. Though I am worried about him too. It's another thing on the List of Things Screwing up my Life." She joked faintly, not really wanting to burden Hermione with her inane drama.

Hermione cracked a faint smile, but didn't say anything, sipping her drink patiently."I don't know if I should be telling you this… it's my Mom." She said finally, giving up under her scrutinizing gaze.

"Is something wrong? Is she alright?" Worry lined Hermione's voice as a frown lined her face. Caroline was hit with a sudden sense of… she didn't know what it was, but what mattered was that Hermione was there – asking her about her mother, while her actual friends hadn't even bothered. Only Elena had talked to her once yesterday - and she was on the outs with both Bonnie and Matt.

"Well, yes. Kind of. I'v been having trouble with her. It's not like we were close before but… things have changed now. It's complicated." She sighed again – what a mess. It wasn't like she could explain anything to Hermione even if she wanted to. Hello? What would she say? My Mom's mad at me coz I'm dead?

Her misery must have shown on her face, because Hermione's hand was suddenly on her shoulder. "I'm not sure I can solve it Caroline, but talking about it might help." She said with a tight smile.

What was the easiest way to say this? There was no way to explain things directly – that much was for sure. "Hermione, have you ever faced a situation where you had to choose between your family and… yourself?"

Caroline was surprised with the reaction her question initiated in the British girl. As soon as the words were out of her mouth - Hermione's face went rigid, tense, before she replied- "What do you mean?"

She blinked for a second - feeling confused weather to continue her story or pry into Hermione's. "Y'know, have you ever had to struggle with what you are- your personality, and... and your family's expectations?"

"I'm familiar with that kind of predicament - yes." Hermione said, nodding a little, and Caroline's ears picked up her heart beat speeding up.

She really really wanted to ask about her at this point, but logically thinking, there would be no person better than Hermione to give her advice her right now. "So, theoretically speaking, if you had a choice, which one would you choose - following your... personality, and keep your loved ones in the dark but safe, or... or..." She couldn't even think about it. This was such a fucked up situation - there was no 'or' for her.

"Or keep going as it is, and put them up for risk." Hermione said, completing her sentence in a hollow voice, and Caroline noticed her heart beating fast, while she clutched the glass in her hand so hard that her knuckles were white.

"Yeah. I... I can't even think about it." She replied, staring at her drink. The idea hadn't struck her till now, and this fact just proved that Hermione had made some decision like this before in her life.

"Just the fact that you haven't even thought of that option makes your answer clear." Hermione said, a final tone to her voice, suggesting that the decision broke no argument. She got up, downed her drink at once, and turned to put it away.

"What option did you choose?" Caroline asked after a few seconds of heavy silence.

Hermione remained quiet, still facing the sink – pretending to put away the glass.

"The first one."


	4. Chapter 4

**Merry Christmas everyone! I know I'm late but I had a lot of rushing around to do because of exams, which is horrible because it's supposed to be holiday season. Ugh. Anyway, only reason you get an update is coz of the great person that is _lavanyalabelle_. This chapter is good only because of her awesome input and Beta skills! So tell me what ya think of the developments! Things are going to get intererestinnnggg...**

 **Also, thank you so much for the reviews on the previous chapter. I'm glad everyone enjoyed it. I'm personally liking this format too. So** **Read and review people! And also Happy New Year in advance! 3**

 **Chapter 4**

Damon was now about 200 percent sure that Stefan and Elena were fake fighting. His brother hadn't slept in the house yesterday, and he was pretty sure Elena hadn't been doing much sleeping either. He had just poured his first drink of the day when there was a knock at the door.

Smirking, he moved to the door, ready to tease the truth out of his brother, and frowned as he saw who it actually was.

"I need to talk to you." Gilbert Jr. said, sounding like he had another small maze his junior brain couldn't get through.

"And why do I need to talk to you?" he replied, moving to close the door, but Jeremy stopped him, pushing it back. "Tyler Lockwood has to kill someone to activate his curse. He's not a werewolf yet." He said, trying to bribe him by spouting information. Well, it was… kinda useful.

"Wow. Fascinating. Not enough." This was baby Gilbert they were talking about – disaster magnet. He was so not doing this.

"But Mason Lockwood is, and he's looking for a moon stone – a special stone connected to the werewolf legend. That's why he's here." Jeremy said, sounding confident – his info must be correct.

" Moonstone?" That was weird. He hadn't heard of this till now. What could Mason Lockwood want with this? Whatever it was.

"And I know where it is." Jeremy said smugly, and Damon narrowed his eyes. Why was he involving himself, again? "And you're bringing me this why?"

"Do I need a reason? Look, I just want to help, ok?" How desperate could one get? The kid obviously just wanted to keep himself in the in of things.

"What did your sister say about this little discovery?" Damon asked; he was pretty sure Elena wouldn't be very happy with her brother getting involved in these things. Jeremy's face turned a bit rigid at his question. Ugh. "You haven't told her, have you?"

"Elena doesn't want me getting involved in all of this." Jeremy said, sounding like he didn't actually care what his sister thought. What the hell. He wasn't going to get in the middle of this sibling thing again – he was damn sure Elena wouldn't need another reason to blame him.

"And you're a Gilbert and you just can't help yourself. Wow." He deadpanned, "This search for your life's purpose is as obvious as it is tragic." He hoped his harsh words would do some good and get the kid off his back – he wasn't going take blame for this one's corruption.

He made to close the door again, but apparently Gilberts were inherently stubborn. "The British girl, Hermione's a believer. And she seemed very interested in your story, and she's definitely not here just for research."

He narrowed his eyes again at the kid desperately throwing about information, but stood aside to let him in. This little last tid-bit, he couldn't bring himself to ignore.

* * *

Caroline had left late in the evening, but the damage was already done. Hermione hadn't slept well – and was sure this was now going to be routine. At first she had been afraid to go to sleep, but when she had- it was plagued with vague images of the war and her friends' faces – both living and dead. She had been successful with curbing the unfortunate memories and thoughts for a few months, but they were going to come back with full force; she could feel it in her bones.

At home, they usually avoided talking about the War, especially the more… horrible parts, since the topic kept coming up anyway. (But then, which part of the war wasn't horrible?) The decision regarding her parents had not been very thought-out… or successful, since they had ended up dead anyway – house burnt down by death eaters. Burnt alive.

Hermione shivered violently – the tea in her hands spilling – as she recalled the house. She couldn't do this right now. She had already recalled enough unwanted memories last night – she couldn't afford to do so again. She had to keep her head in the game.

She gulped the tea quickly, and left the large house, checking her watch. Jenna had told her to be at the Lockwoods' by 11 and it was a quarter past. She double checked the wards once she had driven out of the gate, and cast one last look at the cheery exterior before driving away.

Time to officially get in the middle of things.

* * *

There were kids working and stowing stuff here and there within an hour of her arrival. Jenna had taken one look at her waifish apperance and simply told her to help her organize the volunteers for a while before she found a job for her. Hermione was very much thankful for that, liking this stupid idea of hers less and less by the second.

As soon as everyone was divided and working, she made her way back to Jenna, who was standing with another older woman, talking about something.

"So was Richard. This was always his favorite party of the year. And who is this young lady?" The blonde lady said looking her way interestedly, as Hermione joined them.

"Hermione Granger. I'm new to town." Hermione said, shaking her hand, and immediately turned to Jenna as well, "They're all set."

"Oh, pleased to meet you Hermione, I'm Carol Lockwood. Jenna's already told me about you. Thank you for helping. How are you liking our town?" Carol said, reminiscent of the condescending Wizengamot members back at the Ministry, as Hermione suddenly remembered that this was the Town's Mayor.

"It's very fascinating, Carol. I quite like it here." Hermione replied, putting on her best simpering expression. There was suddenly a thud from behind them and she turned to see Matt at the other end of the room, bringing in some antique table-thing.

"Wait, wait, wait, Tyler! Boys! Be careful with that, it's from the 1800s. I hope you enjoy here, Hermione. Excuse me." Carol said, heading off in the boy's direction, already reprimanding them from a distance.

Meanwhile, before Hermione had a chance to notice, Jenna entered forward into another room, and she was met with the sight of another teenager, picking up a chair. Before he could move along, Jenna was upon him, and Hermione followed her, maintaining quite a distance, trying to blend in with the walls.

"Stefan, hey." Jenna said, her tone a bit… off. Hermione scrutinized the guy carefully – this was Stefan Salvatore? Damn. These vampires seriously didn't age a day.

"Hey." Stefan said, and then turned to her expectantly; they hadn't met after all, "Hello?"

"Hello." Hermione smiled slightly, but made no move to introduce herself. She didn't need to though – Jenna was already talking.

"I'm cooking dinner tonight. Rick will be there. You should come." She said, innocently, but a playful tone to her voice. Stefan looked unsure for a moment, but he stammered, "Oh, um… you know, Elena and I, we're kind of taking a pause."

"Really?"Jenna said, sounding skeptical because Hermione couldn't see her face but she was sure the woman highly doubted him.

"Yeah." Stefan replied, looking a bit unsure than before, but Jenna was relentless. "'Cause that's not what it sounded like this morning." She continued, and Hermione watched as Stefan looked confused for a second. "Light sleeper." Jenna hinted, and Stefan looked surprised before grimacing, but didn't counter her, confirming that he was lying.

"You know what, I heard nothing." Jenna said finally, a placating smile on her face, and left the room, Hermione close at her heels.

* * *

Hermione was finally almost free, when Jenna told her that she needed to help sort some glasses in the lawn outside, and she had some other work to do. That was what she was doing when she felt someone join her.

"Hey there." Stefan said, as he brought over another crate, and settled it on the table before her.

"Hi." She replied shortly, not really sure if she wanted to talk to him or not. The guy was a vampire – how would she know if he was dangerous or not? He looked pretty normal though, and she mentally decided to go through with it. This was why she had put herself through all the Volunteer torture, right? Meet new people, and dig up some stuff personally. Field work.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Stefan. Stefan Salvatore." He said, moving behind the table, next to her, and shaking her hand. She smiled at him – wondering which topic to pursue next, Damon or the Elena fake fight? She hadn't seen Damon after that first night, but she was also curious about the whole Elena thing.

"Oh interesting. Damon's brother. I'm Hermione." She said, inserting a fake note of surprise into her voice, and watched as his eyebrows furrowed worriedly.

"How do you know Damon?" he said, looking at her suspiciously, a worried tone to his voice, just as she had expected. She couldn't exactly ask him outright about his brother, but maybe he had mentioned her, or something?

"We've met." She replied vaguely, eliciting another round of narrowed eyes, as he looked her over, considering.

"Okay…" he said finally, turning back to the glasses, probably deciding Damon's topic was not worth pursuing. "So what brings you to this town?"

And that was why she hated introductions. "The history. I'm not that big a fan but I've got a research project going on." She said, going with the lie, and it almost sounded true to her ears – it was so used.

"Oh? What's it about? I could help you there." He said, looking faintly interested, and Hermione scoffed internally, sure he could. He was a vampire – history was supposed to be his forte.

"What?" Stefan turned to her, eyes narrowed again. Had she accidently said that out loud? Damn it. She mentally fumbled for another question, irritated with herself as well as the dark-haired vampire with his stupid heightened hearing.

"Nothing. I was... actually... I wanted to ask you something." She stammered, deciding to turn around the situation – Elena's fight seemed like a good option right now. "If you wouldn't mind, that is. It's a bit personal." She added, taking in his surprised face.

"Yeah, sure, go ahead." He replied. Now he was definitely suspicious. She had his full attention, and he was looking her over like one would access a threat.

"Why are... why are you and Elena pretending to fight?" she said, a bit hesitantly, as his face hardened and he looked at her with barely concealed irritation. "I mean, if you both like each other enough – what's stopping you?" she clarified, and Stefan seemed to be stuck, probably deciding if he should tell her the truth or not.

"It's uh, because of my ex." He said finally, being as vague as she was.

"Your ex? Are you still in love with her?" What was this about another ex? As far as she remembered, it had been Damon creating problems for them.

"No! It's not that. It's kind of the other way around. Katherine's doesn't want us together, so she-"

"Katherine? Katherine Pierce?" Hermione exclaimed before she realized what she had just said. Now Stefan definitely looked surprised as well as suspicious.

"You know her?" he said, a threatening edge to his voice, but before she could reply, they were interrupted by another guy she had hoped to run into that day.

"Hey, Stefan." The werewolf said, his face showing his surprise and shock, as he set another crate down. He took no notice of her, and it suited her just perfect as she slipped sideways out of his sight.

"Hi, Mason." Stefan said, a mocking edge to his tone – he seemed uplifted by Mason's confusion.

"Wasn't expecting you here. Or anywhere." Mason replied, his tone still light, but betraying his surprise. What did he mean by that?

"Yeah, I had this little accident. But I'm fine now." Stefan replied, just as vaguely, probably conscious that she was standing nearby, hearing every word.

"And how is Sheriff Forbes?" Mason asked, and Hermione felt a piece click in her memory – the Sheriff was Caroline mother, wasn't she? And Caroline's predicament from yesterday meant that something had happened in the last three days.

"Oh, she's fine, too. But from now on, you'll have to do your own dirty work." Stefan said, the last part in a very low and threatening tone, but Hermione was easily able to hear it. So that incident involved The Sheriff, two vampires, and a werewolf? What exactly was going on in this damn town? And Katherine Pierce and Stefan Salvatore?

She vaguely registered Mason going away from them and collide with a girl, which took up Stefan's attention as he slipped away from the booth as well. She recognized her chance, and hurried to the nearest washroom – the only place she could be alone right now and _think_.

Katherine Pierce was Stefan Salvatore's ex? If those two had been involved – that just confirmed her theory that the Salvatores were vampires. Because the town was founded in 1864 – the same year Katherine was here and there were signatures of Damon and Stefan Salvatore in the original documents. Now, if she could get her hands on something one of them had written on currently- that would confirm it. Until then, she would have to assume that she was correct, and hence, they were both dangerous, and not to be trusted.

But if Katherine was having an effect on Stefan and Elena's relationship now, that meant that she was here – in town. If Katherine was here, that meant Klaus would be too.

Hermione finally let herself relax a little, at least this confirmed that she was at the right place – Klaus was bound to send someone here for Katherine and Hermione would wait here gladly till then. It wasn't like the place was boring.

There were still a lot of things to figure out though – like what was Katherine actually doing here in the first place. Now that was really bothersome because as far as she remembered, she wasn't a good influence on the death rates wherever she went. There was also the problem of the other two, possibly three, vampires, and the werewolf Mason. Something that concerned all of them and the Sheriff couldn't be good. And that much harder to find out about.

* * *

"Katherine's with Mason Lockwood?" Damon said skeptically, as he walked into a lone marquee farthest from the crowd, followed by his brother.

"We missed it. He got into town right after she did. It makes perfect sense." Stefan said, shaking his head, sounding as frustrated as he felt.

"I know, but Mason Lockwood?!" he repeated, trying to convey how… unconventional that seemed, for Katherine. "Werewolf thing aside, the guy's a surfer."

His dear brother only nodded, conceding his point. "She's gotta be using him. She has to be." He decided, but _why?_

"Using him for what?"

"Mason Lockwood's looking for a moon stone that can allegedly break the full moon werewolf curse. Maybe Katherine wants it as well." He said, relaying the information Gilbert Jr. had provided.

"Why?"

"Well..." he started, and blinked, realizing that lead to nothing. "No idea. It's the beauty of Katherine. She's always up to something." He continued, wondering just what she meant to do with it.

"So how are we going to find this moon stone?" Stefan said, bringing his mind back at the topic.

"Jeremy's getting it from Tyler." He said, and Stefan frowned at him, swatting his arm as he moved past him, "Why would you involve Jeremy?"

"He's playing Indiana Jones. He involved himself." Damon countered, defending himself from the jibe he had known would come. He had anticipated Elena, but Stefan was doing a good job blaming him for the kid's enthusiasm.

"Speaking of you manipulating people, how do you know that British girl?" Stefan said, turning around again and Damon found himself groaning in irritation.

"God, _what_ has she been saying to everybody? I talked to her, like once." He said, frowning as Stefan shook his head. "It's not that. She knows Katherine."

"What?" The Brit knew Katherine? Well, that was news. But… how?

"Just now, before Mason turned up, I was talking to her. She didn't seem to know that Katherine was my ex-girlfriend." Stefan explained, frowning as he looked into the distance, thinking.

"And since that is public knowledge these days, that's a bit weird." Damon concluded, nodding slowly. "Well, I didn't mention Katherine. Wait..." He suddenly remembered the last time he had seen the bitch, in his car

"What?"

"The other night, Katherine warned me to stay away from her." He said, face screwed up in confusion. What the hell was going on with those two? Something was off about the girl, but this made one thing clear – she couldn't really be eliminated from the threat list.

"As if one problem wasn't enough." His brother sighed, pressing his hand to the bridge of his nose, apparently thinking along the same lines as he was.

"She won't be a problem." Damon said eventually, if only to get the frown off Stefan's face. He wasn't sure what he would do, but if they were lucky, she would just actually be a research student too keen on the supernatural. "We'll deal with her later; let's take care of this Mason business first."

* * *

She wasn't sure how long she had been in there but there were suddenly more people around the Lockwood place, helping. She headed towards the tables under the nearest tent – to inspect what was going on, when she saw Jeremy setting things there.

"Hey, Jer." She said, happy to see someone non-complicated and shifty. Okay, so Jeremy was probably not somebody innocent but it was better than the uncomfortable talk she'd just had with Stefan.

"Oh hey Hermione. What's up?" he said, smiling politely.

"Nothing. Just slaving away." She replied, getting hold of a few things and helping him with the setting.

"I feel sorry for you but you literally brought this on yourself." Jeremy said, laughing as she replied by sticking her tongue out at him.

They worked silently for some time, while she evaluated the number of people in this town who were too innocent for this vampire-Katherine-Klaus massacre when it would unfold, and Jeremy and Matt were the first ones who came to mind. Sure, the others weren't bad but at least Elena would be fully aware of what she was getting herself into. She couldn't really say the same for the others.

"I'll be right back." Jeremy said suddenly, and she looked up to see him turning away and going to talk to another guy. He was vaguely familiar, and she remembered him from the morning with Matt – Tyler Lockwood. The Mayor's son.

"Hey, man." Jeremy said, as Hermione moved over to his side, wanting to hear the conversion better. God, she hoped George sent her the supplies soon.

"Hey." Tyler said, and since Hermione could no longer see them, she could only guess at his expression.

"Hey, so I did a little research on that stone you showed me."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know – curiosity, boredom."

"What'd it say?"

"Well, it turns out that it's a part of this Aztec legend, but I want to make sure it's the same kind of stone. Do you think I could check it out again?"

The Aztec Curse? Jeremy knew about it? Could they be talking about the Moonstone?

"Nope. Gave it to my uncle."

"Why'd you do that?"

"Because I'm done with legends and curses. I don't want anything to do with it, ok?"

"Yeah. Yeah, sure. It's probably just stupid folklore anyways. Forget it."

Katherine. Moonstone. Aztec Curse. Werewolf. No. This could _not_ be happening. The last time the moonstone was mentioned, Katherine had stolen it from Klaus, and fled. She had been in Mystic Falls once, and now a Lockwood had the stone. Who'd given to his Uncle. She could only guess, but if this Uncle was Mason, things were going to get _screwed_ really soon.

* * *

It was best if she didn't think about this right now. She would go home, get a bottle of firewhiskey and then figure things out calmly. Right now, she could only sort stupid masks that Jenna wanted her to look over, and not worry about the possible doom of the whole damn town when Klaus found about this tempting combination. God, Katherine Pierce was really a nuisance of a bitch.

"Where's Caroline? This is like her thing. I can't believe she's not here." She heard Matt say as she entered the main building.

"She had something else to do." A dark-haired girl said tonelessly, clearly lying. She wasn't even trying, honestly.

"Is she seeing someone?" Matt said hesitantly, and she looked at him pityingly, "Matt, come on. No, she's not."

Well, that one clearly knew something that Matt didn't and she wasn't really doing a good job hiding it.

"Hi Matt." Hermione said, joining them at the table. She really just wanted to head home right now and brainstorm but she was stuck here for at least two hours more. It was really putting a damper on her mood.

"Hey. You made it." Matt said, smiling at her. She could only smile back because of his honest happiness at seeing her.

"I had to. Thanks to you." She said, a little bitter, now regretting having asked Matt about the whole thing in the first place. It wasn't his fault though, of course.

"You asked for it!" he said, putting his hands up and smirking, seemingly enjoying her annoyance.

"I know. It sounded like a great idea. Now, not so much." She replied, pulling a box towards her anyway, and finally looked at the brunette standing in front of them, who looked slightly lost for words.

"Hi... Matt, this is?" she said, vaguely pointing in Hermione's direction.

"Oh, sorry. Hermione, this is Elena. Elena, Hermione. She's here for a research paper of hers." Matt said, getting the introduction out of the way, as Hermione scrutinized the girl closely. So this was the famous Elena Gilbert. She was really pretty – dark hair, dark eyes, perfect pout – the kind of girl one normally saw on TV.

"Hi. Nice to finally meet you." Hermione said, smiling at her, and shaking her hand. Elena looked rather tense and withdrawn, and she wondered if it the stress of the Katherine situation was catching up to her.

"Thanks. I guess Matt's been talking." She said, looking at Matt pointedly, and he fumbled.

"Oh you bet. He went on and on and on about how you-" Hermione said, smirking, not giving Matt a chance to protest, and he promptly shoved her, smiling, "Hey. Careful, midget. I didn't talk that much."

"Sure, sure." She said airily, ignoring the jab on her height, and shoving him back.

Just then, Stefan entered, carrying another box, and nodded shortly at her, before his eyes strayed to Elena.

"Anyone seen Mason?" Tyler called from the other side, and they all turned to look at him, and then at each other with blank looks, except Stefan and Elena.

"He, uh, he took off. Said he wasn't sure when he'd be back." Stefan said, and Hermione watched as Elena's eyes remained fixed on him, as Tyler left, and Stefan's phone beeped. She moved towards him, but he turned around and left before she could take another step forward.

"I'm not even going to ask." Matt said, as Elena looked conflicted for a second, before deciding something.

"I'll be right back." She muttered, and walked outside, stubbornness in her stride as she left.

Matt just shrugged as Hermione turned to him with raised eyebrows.

What the hell had that been about? One thing was confirmed though – Mason was Tyler's Uncle. And a Lockwood. Which meant that Tyler was also a ticking bomb.

She had gone back to work – the masks were almost sorted – when Jeremy entered, and looked around for a second before spotting her and heading towards their table.

"Hermione, you enjoying yourself?" he said, raising an eyebrow as she glared at him.

"Get to the point." She muttered, rolling her eyes as Matt chuckled.

"I was wondering if you still want to get out. I need a ride to the Boarding House and I can't find Elena or Jenna." He said finally, and Hermione gave a sigh of relief.

"Of course! Wherever you want Jer. Honestly, I don't know what I was thinking – this is a bloody nightmare." She sighed.

He shook her head at her, and they both apologized to Matt before heading out towards the parking lot.

* * *

"So, do you know where the boarding house is?" Jeremy said, as Hermione started the car, carefully backing out of the parkway. Driving was still a bit new to her – especially the parking part. She hadn't really got time to get used to it, what with… the things back home.

"Nope, I hope you do though." She said, as they finally got out the Lockwood estate, and on the highway.

"Yeah, yeah I do." Jeremy muttered, and she glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes – he seemed a little distracted.

"So whose house was this again? Are we going to meet your girlfriend?" she said, smirking as he blushed slightly and rolled his eyes. He was such a kid.

"It's Stefan and Damon's house. And I don't have a girlfriend." He replied, and her smile died down for a second.

"What are you gonna do there? I thought both of them were at the Lockwood's?" she said, frowning. Or at least, she assumed they were. She hadn't seen Damon at all.

"Um, yes. Damon and I... had some stuff to do." Jeremy replied shiftily, avoiding her gaze.

"Last time we talked, you didn't like him much." Hermione said, accusation evident in her tone, but Jeremy seemed even more uncomfortable.

"Yeah, it just something, we had to do." He said stiffly, not budging, eyes on the road, "Take left."

She looked at him again, and his expression betrayed his regret of asking her to drive him. She immediately felt a stab of pity for the poor guy – how did she know he was doing this willingly? Of what she had heard about Damon, it wouldn't be past him to force Jeremy into this. "It's okay. Calm down. Sometimes we have to bear people we don't like." She said finally, and Jeremy seemed to deflate a little.

"Yeah..." he replied, and they drove in silence for a minute, before he told her to take another right. "Say, Hermione, could you help me with something?" he said suddenly, eyeing her uncertainly, looking like he was having trouble figuring her out.

"Yeah, sure. What is it?" she replied, and waited as he leaned towards the back seat, fumbling around for a minute, before he found what he was searching for. He held the packet gingerly in his hands, and she only had to take one look at it to recognize the plant inside.

"Where'd you find that?" she exclaimed, looking at him suspiciously. Jeremy Gilbert was more involved in things than she had suspected – how the hell did he get hold of wolfsbane?

"You know what it is?" he said, looking at her surprised, and she frowned at the road. So he didn't know what it was called? What was he doing with it then? And where did he find it? This made absolutely no sense except – he was going to Damon's house?

"That's from a plant called Aconitum vulparia. Grows only in the wild mountainous areas of Scotland. Commonly known as aconite, monkshood and wolfsbane, it's flowers are used in a potion which helps to keep a werewolf sane on a full moon. Individually, it's toxic to werewolves but it's roots can be used for medicinal purposes." She said finally, and was met with a surprisingly impressed look from Jeremy.

"Whoa. Swallowed a textbook, Hermione?" he said, still looking rather surprised with her knowledge, as he turned over the flower in his hands.

"So where'd you find it?" she said hoping her tone was light, and not as probing as it sounded to her ears.

"Just looking through a friend's old stuff." He said, and she tsked at him, before he hurriedly added, "He was with me at the time."

She nodded, and it was another five minutes before they reached the Boarding House. It looked quite dark and foreboding, and suddenly an image of the Malfoy Manor flashed through her eyes. She shivered and mentally reasoned with herself – this house was far more cheerful; there was a lawn and the house was made of wood, not stone.

"Thanks a lot, Hermione." Jeremy said, getting out and opened the back door to unload the box he had brought along.

"Thanks to you too, for helping me get out." She replied cheerily, but her smile faded as she looked at the small packet in his hand. "Listen- Jeremy." She started, not really knowing what to say to him, "I know that you know what you're doing, but-" She really didn't want him to get involved in all of this – because if she was right, he was taking the wolfsbane to Damon, who would undoubtedly use it on Mason.

"Just take care of yourself. And remember your own advice about Damon." She sighed, giving him a small smile, a meaningful look in her eyes, and promptly started the engine.

"Yeah, see you around." She heard him mumble softly, before she was driving away again.

* * *

"When did you two meet? Did she seduce you, tell you she loved you? You're supernatural so she can't compel you. I'm sure she used her other charms. Katherine's good that way."

Jeremy heard Damon firing questions at the tied-up Mason Lockwood, and almost wished that hadn't volunteered to do this. The scene wasn't pretty – Damon had been having a go at the werewolf for about half an hour and he apparently had no qualms with a little bloodshed. Or a lot of it.

"And here we are. What'd you find?" Damon said, leaving the poker in the fire and coming over towards him, rubbing his hands.

"I found this in Rick's box of stuff." Jeremy said, handing Damon the small packet of plant. "I looked it up but every source says something different. One myth says it causes lycanthropy, which sounds bogus."

Damon hummed as he carefully pulled out the plant and touched it hesitantly, testing it on his skin apparently.

"But... Hermione dropped me here, and she knew quite a lot about it." He continued, wondering just how much he should say about Hermione to Damon. He hadn't been very keen on her, but she had surprised him with her concern for him. He hadn't really thought that she considered him a friend.

"Is that so?" Damon looked up interestedly, before examining the plant again, "What does _she_ think it is?"

"That's the thing. When I showed it to her, she repeated stuff like she'd learnt it from some text book." He said, thinking out loud, reasoning that the more Damon knew, it was probably better for their odds. They couldn't be sure of where the British girl's loyalties lay, so it was better he shared what he knew about her. "Nothing new, she wasn't even really surprised." He finished.

Damon had been listening to him and nodding occasionally while he talked and was now looking up with a thoughtful expression on his face. "The odds of her actually being a keen-on-the-supernatural researcher are looking good."

"What we need to know is that it's toxic to werewolves." Jeremy said quietly, and watched as Damon's face lit up with a nasty smirk. "Now we're talking."


	5. Chapter 5

**Yes, I have no regard for my update schedules and I'm a horrible person. But, I'm also a good writer so I have good news - This story is completely figured out! It will have three parts, the pairing will be Hermione/Damon on and off, though not for the reasons we think. It might stray into Season 3 but I can't say for sure. I will try to update again in early March, but no promises. This chapter looks like a filler, and it sort-of is. But quite important for things to come later. This is Beta-ed by the lovely** _ **lavanyalabelle**_ **\- do check out her storied if you're into Marvel pairings. :)**

 **Thanks for all the reviews and favorites and follows! I love you all, and I will reply soon too, but keep it coming coz I love to hear from you guys. Happy reading!**

 **Re-edited on: 4/23/16.**

 **Chapter 5**

Hermione had dropped Jeremy and the rest of the ride had passed in a blur, as she was focused completely on analyzing the information she had gained that day.

First, there was Damon. Still suspiciously absent, or avoiding her for some reason, and 99 percent sure a vampire. He had tried to kill Mason the day she had arrived, but had seemed sincerely interested in helping her. Inadvertently almost, her thoughts had wandered towards what kind of a person he was. He seemed conflicted, for sure, when she recalled the things Jeremy had told her about; but the first day she had talked to him, she actually felt like maybe he wasn't that bad – even though he had just tried to kill a guy. Damon Salvatore was a grey area.

Then there was Stefan Salvatore. Had apparently been dating Katherine Pierce for a time. There was some friction with his brother, the reason for which could or could not be Elena, and then his fake fight with Elena, which was confusing, because she had thought Damon was the reason behind that, but it wasn't. What exactly was going on there?

That reminded her of Jeremy. Innocent kid, but had apparently teamed up with Damon to most probably eliminate Mason. From what she had heard and experienced of Damon Salvatore, he was a paranoid guy and wouldn't let go a chance to finally kill Mason. Hermione wasn't sure she liked the idea of that, but then she had remembered Jeremy's conversation with Tyler and his knowledge of the Aztec Curse.

Now, assuming that Jeremy's knowledge was indirectly related to Damon's, everyone was apparently aware about the Aztec curse. But she was also sure that they only knew about the fake curse as there was no way they could know about the sacrifice. So, there could be two reasons for Damon trying to kill Mason – the general and admittedly childish reason of him being a werewolf (thus his natural enemy), or for knowledge about the moonstone. Tyler had given the moonstone to his Uncle Mason, so now there were two possibilities.

Either Mason had the moonstone somewhere, or Damon and Co. had managed to find out it's whereabouts from Mason. Mason's sudden disappearance, announced by Stefan no less, could only mean that.

But why did Mason need it? His whole story stunk of Katherine's involvement. Could it be that Katherine had hid it the last time she was in Mystic Falls and was now taking it back? But why come back now after so many years? And if Klaus followed her here, and found the moonstone…

An involuntary shiver went up Hermione's spine as she thought about that. No no no. That couldn't be allowed. It just wasn't possible. Things could not get that far. She didn't want to think about it, but slowly, things were setting into place in her mind.

There was a werewolf in town. There was a vampire available. And there was the moonstone.

But the witch and the doppelganger still remained. No, that was completely impossible. Doppelgangers were very rare and it would be quite a job to keep something like that hidden in a small town like Mystic Falls. And well, she was quite sure she would have been aware if there was a witch in town, most importantly because her cover would be blown anytime he or she spotted her. So no, that wasn't the case.

There had to be another reason for Katherine being back in town. Her history with the Salvatore brothers should answer some questions. Yes, that was probably the reason. She needed to talk to Katherine, or the Salvatores, or someone who could provide her with information about what exactly had happened in 1864. The last thing in Klaus' archives was him receiving information about Katherine Pierce in 1864, but before he could act on it, the wizard from the Ministry had overpowered him and taken him out of action for a few months.

Planning to help break the Hybrid Curse was just too farfetched, even for Katherine, Hermione decided, as she parked the car into the garage by the house, mentally picking off the wards.

* * *

It was evening and Hermione was sitting cross-legged in the back garden, a few pages of the archives strewn in front of her, and a cauldron bubbling on her left. Crookshanks was running around lazily near the back wall, which was almost green with the plants that had grown through it over time. She had only attempted to clean those areas of the house that were of use to her – the bar, for example, was as dirty as ever. She had found some very old bottles of malt whiskey and elf wine, and had stored them away in the guest room to take back with her to Harry and Theo.

The back garden, which was dirty and completely overgrown when she had arrived, had now some space for her to sit and brew. She had pruned off some bushes but let some other plants like dittany, fluxweed and mistletoe grow. She had also taken the liberty to plant some nettles, vervain and wolfsbane. The last two were especially compulsory plants to have in your back garden when living in Mystic Falls. With all the supernatural creatures, she could never be too sure about suddenly needing to brew a Blood-Replenisher or a Calming Draught, even though she had a cabinet full of all potions imaginable in the kitchen.

The back garden look half like a graveyard because of what she suspected had been Crup and Clabbert skeletons, which she had wasted no time in cleaning out. The house was full of such infestations - she had still not gotten rid of the Fairies and Doxies hiding in the bushes in the front yard, purely because she liked the magical environment and the creatures were harmless anyway. There was a pair of Jobberknolls in the back garden as well, and even a few gnomes present by mistake, but she had not had the heart to throw them out. For one, they wouldn't survive in the non-magical environment, and secondly, their presence gave the place a feel like the Burrow, which was a part of home she missed very dearly.

So she had simply cast a shield which prevented the gnomes and birds from getting to her side, and had commenced making the Wolfsbane potion two days ago. The ingredients were not easy to get hold of, but she had the initials to start with. She had decided to owl Luna for the rest as soon as possible, since she figured that she wouldn't really be able to apparate to Diagon Alley whenever she wanted.

The thought of making the potion had entered her mind a long time ago, but she was now sure of her decision when she had learnt that Mason Lockwood was related to a kid in the town. That meant the gene had passed down to him, and even though she wasn't sure what kind of a werewolf he was, or if he even was one or not, she was pretty sure the potion would come in handy. If the kid didn't change, it would be a huge help for Mason the next full moon, if Damon didn't kill him by then.

Within the week she had been in town, she hadn't heard of any unusual disappearances, or bodies drained of blood, or people missing. This lead her to believe that the vampires were laying low, and was still unsure if an alliance with them would mean anything for her search of Klaus; though if Katherine was in town, Klaus should not be far away. One thing was nagging at her mind a lot – the completely lame cover-ups of a few incidents over the past few months. Like the fire in which the mayor had perished, the 'accident' that included the Sheriff that Stefan and Mason were talking about. And most of all, the firing on the church in 1864. She knew she was missing something huge there – and the only way to find out the truth was make clear to this lot that she knew about them, so that they could talk openly about all the things.

Hermione was frowning hard, her thoughts miles away, staring at the papers in front of her, when her phone suddenly rang, and she jumped, accidentally touching the cauldron, which was burning hot. The skin at her left elbow sizzled, and she hissed at the sudden pain. She quickly got up, and walked to the sink in the kitchen, holding her burning arm, the phone still ringing irritatingly in her pocket.

After cooling off her arm in the cold water for a few seconds, she fished out her phone, and stared at the unknown number, before shrugging and answering it.

"Hello?"

"Hello? Er, Granger?" The voice on the other side was very familiar – it reminded her of a spicy something… perfume maybe?

"Uh, yeah? Who's this?" she replied, turning off the tap and frowning to herself.

"It's Zabini, bushhead."

"Oh!" she exclaimed, as Blaise Zabini's handsome dark face flashed into her memory and that spicy perfume he always wore, the snobbish git.

"Yeah, I got Harry's letter yesterday. Apparently, you got a phone and sent the number, but Potter still doesn't own a cell phone so he just sent it to me. How long do you think before he flips out again?"

Hermione smiled at Blaise' jab at Harry's inability to keep a phone on himself without frying it, and the constant upset it caused to everyone around him, but ignored it. "Well, get him a new one and we'll find out. But why did Harry have to send you a letter? I thought you were still at Grimmauld Place?"

"Oh no. I came back the day after you left. I have classes to attend, unlike some other people I know."

"Right right. How's college going then? I suppose your exams must be near?"

"Yeah they're in March though – lots of time in between. Thank Merlin I'm good with Cellular Biology, because the classes are hopeless."

"Huh? Why's that? I thought Culver had brilliant Professors? That's why you got in their special."

"Oh they do. The Professor's brilliant. So brilliant that it's distracting, if you know what I mean."

She let out a huge laugh at that, walked back to the garden and settled back on the ground, though the burn was still smarting, "Did I hear that right? Blaise Zabini has a crush on his Professor! Well this is just too hilarious to pass up. I think I'm going to owl George…"

There was a faint screech at the other end and the unmistakable sound of someone colliding with something, before Blaise spoke again, with a voice more irritated than ever, "Seriously Granger? I just about destroyed a very important project because of you and don't you dare! If anyone gets wind of this, I will strangle you. So don't dare breathe a word to them."

"Yeah well. It's not like I can. You're the only one I've heard from in this week." She said, just a little sadly, her eyes trailing Crookshanks as he pawed the invisible wall of the Shield Charm."What's her name?"

"Elizabeth Ross. She's hot, Granger, and she's too bloody brilliant at the subject. She has a boyfriend though." He added offhandedly, though she doubted that little fact put him off.

"How do you know that?"

"I asked her."

She chuckled again, and there was silence for a moment, before a sound of a door opening and then closing.

"So how's your Secret Mission going?" he said, voice suddenly serious and losing it's playful tone. Hermione wasn't surprised though. Blaise didn't do small talk – he mostly just stuck to the facts and talked straight business. Theo was the one who could banter and talk uselessly for hours.

"It's fine. I haven't had much trouble till now, but I doubt that's going to last. Where are you?"

"I'm in my room. I can talk openly now and I wanted to ask, have you performed any magic yet? Used your wand?"

Hermione frowned, and tried to recall the times she had had to use her wand since she had arrived in Mystic Falls. "Well, I think the first day… or second, I think it was to clean the place a bit, repair some stuff. Oh, and wards. I've used it mostly for wards. Why?"

"Well, I didn't come to know until after you'd left that you were somewhere in America-"

"How do you know that?! You're not supposed to!"

"Oh be quiet. It was Theo who told us, he did refuse to tell the exact place, but he told it was in America. Now listen-"

"When did he tell you? Who else knows?"

"Calm down Granger. It was Potter and Draco's idea. Well, mostly Potter. He gathered everyone back together the day you left and wanted to put together everything we know about your mission or whatever, so that we know what and where to look for – just in case."

"Oh." Hermione wasn't very shocked, she realized. She had expected this of Harry – he wasn't one to let go that easily, and she would bet anything that the idea for a contingency plan was originally Draco's. The ferret was very wily and protective when it came to her - she had learnt that the hard way.

"Yeah well nothing much useful came out of it – though we eliminated Seattle from the list. Anyway, Luna kept quiet about the topic of the books you collected, though she did hint that it's about some supernatural creatures for sure. Big help that one." He finished sarcastically.

Hermione hummed at the information, and then remembered what had initiated the topic in the first place. "So what about using a wand? You were saying something?"

"Oh yeah. Listen, when we shifted here permanently, we got a letter from the American Ministry a few days later, telling us to register with them if we were to continue living for some more time. They said it's not the trace, just that they have the record of unusual magical signatures and wand magic, and will keep having it until we register ourselves in their database. They'll issue a wand permit if we need to use wands and there was a shitload of other formalities and everything."

This was new information. She hadn't even thought about the American Ministry of Magic since she had arrived here, and immediately decided that it had been a stupid move. She had never felt the need to read up on the American Ministry, and only remembered that they were even more paranoid and better in hiding than the British Ministry and wizards. There was definitely an American Congress though... and a President? The headquarters were in New York - _that_ she remembered reading somewhere.

"Well, what do I do now? Do I contact them myself?"

"Well, we got our letter after 7 days, but I guess yours could just be taking time or something. Or they let you off because you're the great Hermione Granger?"

"Shut up, you know that's not true." She scoffed, "And anyway, I have to do something about this. I can't just keep on using magic without authorization, and I can't just stop either."

"Well why don't you just keep using it? You're Hermione Granger – maybe they do decide to let you off for a few more days."

"I have to be sure. I can't just live with the threat of an American wizard, or the Ministry swooping in and tell me to stop using magic suddenly at any time. It's going to become dangerous. And no one knows about me here. Without magic, I'll be very vulnerable, and of virtually no use to the case I'm assigned."

There was silence from the other end, and she pursed her lips, thinking. "How about I write a letter to them, requesting a meeting? That'll address the situation quicker, and I can get back to working properly."

"Hmm… that is an idea. I only know that their Ministry is in New York. So there's no permanent address I can provide you with. Or wait… I can look for the letter I received, and give you the name of the person in charge of that office?"

"Yeah, that sounds good. I can owl them and ask for a meeting and get this over with."

"But… listen, I think you should wait another two-three days. They could actually be letting you off easy, and what do you know about these people? What if addressing them directly makes them think you're trying to… I don't know, dominate, or something. They could see that as a threat."

"Okay – I get what you're saying, but doesn't that seem a bit far-fetched Zabini? You sure they are that paranoid?"

"Oh yeah I'm sure. They're really weird, those people at the Ministry. Nutters, the whole lot of them."

"Well, okay then… If you're so sure, I'll wait. But I can't just stop using magic now, can I? How am I going to manage without using my wand?"

"Well, you could try wandless magic for a while. I haven't tried it myself but you're Hermione Granger – you can handle it."

"Okay, stop with the name. I think have a few books about it–"

"Of course you do. All I know is, it's supposed to become easier with practice – but, Draco's the expert. I only remember it because Padma used it a lot in the start of term."

"Wait- what?" Had she heard that right? Padma Patil? How did Blaise know her?

"Uh… what?"

"You said 'Padma' used it a lot in the start of term.' Padma Patil'?"

"Uh… yeah. Why is that so shocking?"

"Umm because last I heard she was supposed to be back in India with her parents, taking time off the wizarding world? Bonding with the family?"

"Oh! I haven't told any of you! Shit. How did I forget that?"

"Well, you obviously did. No one else has mentioned it either so I guess you've missed telling us all. Now what is this about?"

"Well, Padma and Parvati were both apparently very interested in completing graduation, but their parents were against this, so they just decided to do it on their own. We talked about it at Hogwarts and when I decided to enter Culver, I told them, and they strung along too. I never really realized I hadn't told any of you… although, I think Lavender might know."

Hermione hummed again, and watched as the sun hung lower and lower in the sky, the evening light fading to a dark orange. "So they've been going to college with you all this last year, and it just skipped your mind to tell us?"

"Yes." He said condescendingly, "It was an honest mistake – not something I did deliberately."

"Alright alright. No need to get cold on me. When will you tell the others?"

"Oh… hmm, now that you mention it, I had another thing to ask you."

"Yeah, go on."

"Uh well, just remember that this is not deliberate, and purely a matter of circumstance, and we'll completely understand if you say no, right?"

"Okay…" Hermione could hear uneasiness sweep through his voice, could imagine the boy cricking his neck uncomfortably, as he usually did in stressful situations.

"Well, since Padma and Parvati went against their parents last summer, they kicked them out of the house. And since they've been living on campus since then, they have no place to stay for the summer. So… uh, I was wondering if they could crash at Grimmauld this year?"

Hermione had already started talking before Blaise had finished, knowing how painful it must have been for him to ask permission. He was a tad bit too arrogant to ask Harry directly.

"Of course, of course, it's absolutely fine. I think Harry's not going to have any problem with it, I certainly don't. He always likes to have people over, even though it gets cramped and whatnot, he loves when everyone comes over, especially to stay. I'll write to him about it, I'm sure he won't mind. Consider it settled."

She heard a sigh of relief on the other end and almost chuckled. Of course Harry didn't always 'love' when people came over, to stay or otherwise. She knew her best friend, he liked his alone and undisturbed hours, but they all knew he had enough of them throughout the year. Otherwise, he welcomed company whenever he could, and there was no denying he was a gracious host – at least when he was not in one of his moods.

She knew Harry wouldn't say no to the Patil twins, especially after learning that they had no other place. He would sleep in the Drawing Room himself but he wouldn't ever say no to anybody who needed his help. She knew her best friend that much.

For that particular reason, they had added more bedrooms to Grimmauld Place after it's reconstruction, because Harry wanted the place to work as a pseudo-orphanage for Hogwarts kids. As such, there were plenty of rooms to house their entire class, with the complete Weasley family, so there was not going to be a problem.

"Are you sure?" Blaise said unsurely, bringing her back to the present, and she nodded, then realized he couldn't see her.

"Yes yes I'm sure. Don't worry about it. I don't have any problem with it, so Harry won't either, but I will still write to him. It'll be nice to meet them again."

"Okay good. Good. I'm glad. Thanks for that Granger."

"No problem. Though listen, I just remembered something, about the American law thing…"

"Yeah?"

"What about Apparating?"

"Oh…" Blaise seemed to think for a second, before replying, "I have no idea. We didn't need to apparate anywhere, and honestly, I wouldn't advice trying now. Just avoid using excessive magic while you can, Granger."

"Okay… I guess I will have to lay low for a while then. I forgot to ask in the letter - anything new with the Auror office? Did Harry and Ron get any news after I left?"

"Nothing yet. It's going to be a year next month - Kingsley's not very happy - apparently the others seem to be taking a smarter approach to this than Travers and Selwyn. Skeeter's going to crow a lot about it in the Prophet as soon as Feb hits."

"Ugh, I almost forgot she still existed. Like Umbridge alone wasn't enough for the Ministry's reputation. Can't Seamus do something about the bug?"

"Nah, he's still finding himself in the ranks. The editor's not too happy with his insistence to not interview you guys for every little firework that goes off in every remote corner of the world. Thomas dropped by before I left - he told Potter all of that."

"That's bad - Seamus and Dean are always trying to guilt trip Harry into everything."

"Oh please. Potter is easier to manipulate than a bloody pygmy puff. I bet he talks about this 'no Death Eater caught for a year' deal."

"Oh, you're on Zabini. How much?"

"2 galleons he'll give in by the end of the month. I forgot, why are we betting on Potter's potential when you're on a secret mission, Bushy?"

"Because I'm bored? And you're on. And don't you have class or something?

"Yeah, it's gonna start soon - so everything's fine on your mission front, I hope?"

"Yeah it's been alright till now. Listen, where is Theo these days?"

"I think when I last spoke to him, he was in London – why?"

"Well, it's just that… you remember that old SUV he said he bought? The one he showed us in July last year? On Harry's birthday?"

"Yeah, the one with those hideous tattoos and everything."

"Yeah, that one. Well, it's here in America."

"What? You saw it somewhere?"

"No, I didn't see it somewhere." She hesitated. "Uh, I asked him to get a place for me to stay and he did, but he also left the car at the house for me. I've been using it for the last week."

Blaise was silent for a while, thinking over the information perhaps. It had bothered Hermione for a while, the reason why Theo had made the car he used almost daily so easily and suddenly available in America, but she hadn't had a chance to address her doubt till now.

"Well, that's suspicious. So you think he's been working in America for a while?"

"I guess so. I mean it has to be that, right? Or was he recently working in America? Or still is?"

"Hmm… I don't know what to make of this. He didn't tell me he was here. He always does tell."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to ask him then, won't we?"

"Yes- well, first of all, there's no 'we'. I'll figure this out and tell you, you concentrate on your work, you already have too many dangerous things to do I reckon. And secondly, I hope you got rid of those tattoos."

"You're right. I agree with only the first part though, because they make it look dashing. Now don't say another word about it, ok? I happen to like the car as it is."

"Alright, fine. I have work to do Granger. Get back to your super spy stuff or whatever it is you're doing there. Goodbye."

"Okay, say Hi to everyone from me. And if you happen to go back, just call me once so I can talk to someone else besides you. You're not that great company."

"Oh whatever. Still, take care of yourself. Try not to get dead or anything. Bye."

"Bye." She said with a smile.

* * *

The conversation with Blaise had put some things into perspective for her – though immediately after cutting the conversation she had realized that wandless magic was the worst idea in this case, as it left the most amount of magical signatures. And if the Ministry was tracking magical signatures, she was doomed, as the house would practically appear as a huge blip with her name slapped on top.

The only solution she could think of was to use her wand less, or avoid using it. There was no way that she would lower the wards, so it would have to be limiting the use of her wand. That meant limiting her magic to simple spells - no charms or transfiguration, as those two disciplines were particularly impossible to perform without a wand.

Next morning, two packages had arrived for her – one by a huge, creamy bird that was carrying a heavy, wrapped package, presumably from Luna, and the other by Errol, who had crashed headfirst into her mirror, creating a crack right in the middle of it. He was carrying one package of almost everything that George owned, along with two large muggle guns, which she hoped to fill with wooden bullets. There was another small package that included some things she had mentioned to George – wires, connecting cables, small flasks, glass bottles, etc; things that could be used to make bombs and booby traps. Vervain-bombs to be specific.

She spent the whole day in the basement, where she had kept all archives and vampire-related documents and things, going over the things George had sent and going through Luna's books, settling them in the bookcases lining the wall. Her thoughts churned all the while, her mind running around in circles about her current situation.

Then she had remembered Jenna, about how she had helped her in the Ball preparation, which was scheduled to take place this weekend. She had not even called Jenna to thank her and it was too late at night. In fact, it was almost morning. She hadn't heard from Jeremy either – so was unsure what had become of Mason.

Hermione decided she needed to do something to hint Damon and Stefan of her knowledge, so she could finally have a conversation unhindered by secrets. That was when she remembered the Blood Pops George had sent with the prank wands, Love Potions and such. She had been careful to put that away, but a brilliant idea had formed in her mind…

She still needed to call Jenna, though.

* * *

Next morning, she spent an hour trying to get to Jenna, but her call went straight to voicemail. It was the same three hours later, and Hermione was starting to wonder if something was wrong. Sure, she wanted to thank Jenna, but she was also one of her ways to talk to Elena, who was dating Stefan. If she could get to talk to her, maybe some things could be cleared up relating to Katherine's intentions.

She picked up her phone and idly searched through her contact list, there was Damon… No, he was avoiding her for some reason.

Jeremy. Yes, she could call Jeremy. She pressed the call button and waited as the boy answered after four rings.

"Hermione?" His voice was surprised as he answered, and Hermione flinched at the implication.

"Hey Jeremy. How are you?" she replied, trying to sound as cheery as possible.

"I'm fine. What are you doing today?"

That threw her off-guard. Why was Jeremy wondering what she was doing? "I'm home. I was busy with a few things – why?"

"Oh, nothing… so what's up? You need help with some research?"

"Uh, no actually. I was wondering where Jenna's been? I've been trying to call her all morning – I wanted to thank her for the-"

"But Jenna's in the hospital - didn't you know?"

What? Jenna was – "What do you mean? No one told me – How? What happened?"

"She – uh, she walked into a knife."

There was silence for a moment and Hermione wondered why the hell Jeremy was lying to her about something this serious.

"She walked into a knife." She deadpanned.

"Yeah…" Jeremy sounded very uncomfortable – even more proof that he was lying.

"Okay, Jeremy please don't insult my intelligence by lying again. What really happened?"

"W-What do you mean? Jenna really did walk into a knife. Her and Ric were cooking and a knife was poking out of the shelf and she accidently walked into it. She's been in the hospital for two days."

Hermione breathed deeply and counted to ten in her head. Why was Jeremy so insistent on lying about this? Unless… unless someone else had attacked Jenna?

"Can I meet her? Is she awake?"

"Yeah. Yeah sure. Elena's already there. Her and Ric are taking turns to stay with her."

"Alright. I'll check on her in an hour. Thanks Jeremy."

Hermione shut the phone, frowning heavily to herself. She was sure that Jenna had been attacked – Jeremy was a really bad liar.

* * *

 _The following magical creatures' description is from 'Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them' by Newt Scamander:_

 _Crup - Closely resembles a Jack Russel terrier, except for the forked tail, loyal to wizards and ferocious towards muggles, great scavenger, eating anything from gnomes to old tyres, Crup licences have to be obtained from the Ministry_

 _Clabbert - Tree-dwelling creature, in appearance something like a cross between a monkey and a frog, smooth and hairless skin is mottled green, hands and feet are webbed, has pustule on forehead that flashes red when it senses danger_

 _Jobberknoll - Tiny, blue speckled bird, occurs no sound until the time of it's death when it lets out a long scream made up of every sound it has ever heard, regurgitated backwards_

 _DISCLAIMER - Recognizable things belong to their owners._

* * *

 **Review please? What do you think she'll do next?**

 **PS: There is a gap of seven days between the preparation for the Ball and the Ball itself according to official timeline, so we won't be on the next episode for some time. But that doesn't mean things won't get interesting...**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello children! This one's a wee bit late, and a teensy bit shorter, but here's to hoping y'all enjoy it! Thank you so much for the reviews, etc - I really appreciate all your support, and the guest reviewer: I'm really glad you pointed out those mistakes, I'm always looking forward to some constructive criticism, there is no better road to perfection. I hope you like the changes I'v made in the previous chapter, and this one too!**

 **Guys, I'v tweaked Ch 5 a bit, nothing special, but I hope you enjoy this one! Happy reading!**

 **Chapter 6**

Hermione was at a loss for words. She wasn't sure what she was doing, or how exactly it had come to this. Wait, she knew the second one. The reason why she was stuck in a car with Elena Gilbert and Caroline Forbes, both of whom were not speaking a word; was one Alaric Saltzman.

She had gone to the Hospital to check on Jenna, who really did look like she had stabbed herself; Hermione at least found no marks near her neck or signs of struggle on her anywhere. Elena had been there, and Jenna had just woken up, mostly trying to forget what had happened, as she was very embarrassed by it. Caroline had been there with Elena, and Alaric had just arrived, when Jenna was trying to make Elena go home and rest, as she had been there the whole night. Jenna and Caroline seemed happy to see her, but Elena and Alaric, who she had just been introduced with, kept exchanging worried glances.

Alaric had then suggested that Elena should go to the Grill with Caroline and Hermione, and try to relax somewhat, while he stayed with Jenna. Elena seemed unsure, but Caroline had grabbed on to the idea like a lifeline, and now here they were – driving to the Grill in her car, and she couldn't find a topic to break the awkward silence.

Hermione knew she was bad at socializing. She had never gotten along much with girls at Hogwarts either, or at least pre-war, because not many of them had 'keep your best friend alive' as their number one priority; Hermione's priorities discounted the overly girly things that they preferred like make-up, general gossip, or the accursed Divination for the girls of her dorm. And she'd never had friends outside their little circle, so this was becoming _excruciatingly_ awkward. What exactly had she been thinking when she agreed to this again?

"So Hermione, how's your research going?" Elena said finally, and Hermione subtly sighed and saw Elena rolling her eyes at Caroline in the mirror, who had undoubtedly been trying to make her talk for the past two minutes since they had got in the car.

"Oh, it's going well Elena. Jeremy helped a lot but I'll probably have to talk to Alaric about a few things I'm unclear on. After Jenna is discharged, of course." She replied, remembering how Alaric seemed so taken with Jenna.

"Oh, Jeremy helped you out? I didn't know that." Elena stated, frowning and Hermione found herself swearing mentally. Was she supposed to even tell her that? Did Jeremy tell her things? God, she had no idea about the ins and outs of their relationship.

"Yeah, I luckily bumped into him at the library a few days ago. Just took one day of his time, but it advanced my research pretty quickly. I hope – you're okay with that, right?"

"Oh yeah. Don't worry about it. I just didn't know he had met you because he didn't mention it. He needs to talk to more people anyway. Make friends…" Elena trailed off, looking out again, and Hermione saw Caroline grimacing at her from the mirror. Oh, so Jeremy was not a good topic?

"Okay... So, Caroline. How's your Mom?" Hermione said instead, and suppressed a wince as Caroline's face changed in a matter of seconds.

"She's okay, actually. We were able to clear it up, no grudges held or anything." Caroline said eventually, and from her defeated tone of voice, it seemed that things had probably not gone very well with her. It must've been something related to her vampirism. Or that accident that Stefan and Mason had been talking about.

"That's good. So how's Stefan, Elena?" She said after a thought, hoping they would have resolved their fight, or whatever it was, by now. Elena looked at her with a frown, as a pained look crossed her face. Not then.

"We broke up." Elena said steely, the 'Not that it's any of your business' went unsaid with her tone.

"For good." Caroline added complacently, but it didn't seem to effect Elena, as the sad look never left her face.

"I'm sorry." Hermione said sincerely, parking carefully as they reached the Grill.

"Is Katherine still in the picture?" She asked Caroline curiously as they got out, but Elena's shoulders tensed as she heard. "Stefan told me." Hermione added hastily as the three made their way into the Grill; both Hermione and Caroline's eyes going automatically towards the bar.

"Katherine is not _in the picture_ in any way. Stefan made clear he wasn't interested in her anymore." Caroline said, as they took their seats in a booth in the corner. "And when did _you_ meet Stefan?"

"We met at the Lockwood's the day before yesterday. We didn't chat properly or anything, but he seemed like a good guy." Hermione replied, ignoring Caroline's jab - hopefully, they would be over this part of their relationship quickly.

"Yeah well, he is. But sometimes you just have to let it go because too many things get in the way." Caroline stated, looking meaningfully at Elena, who looked back at her silently, not making any move to acknowledge her point.

Hermione's thoughts turned to her and Draco, and how their relation had been short-lived because Ron couldn't get over himself. She looked at Elena, who still looked quite upset, and decided it was time for a change in conversation. Girls were _always_ the same, it shouldn't take much time to distract Elena.

"That's true. That sort of thing happened to me too - and Caroline's right. It's better to end it before it gets messy." she said off-handedly, and sure enough, it took all of two seconds for both Elena and Caroline to perk up interestedly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Was it recent?" Elena said carefully, as Caroline ordered drinks for the three of them.

"Well, it was some months ago, but sometimes it is hard to get over. So don't worry Elena, it'll be okay with you too." Hermione smiled at her, and Caroline nodded vigorously at Elena.

"So who were you, relatively speaking? Elena, Stefan or Katherine?" The blonde inquired, and Hermione smiled at the comparison. Ron was nothing like Katherine, and Draco and Elena – she barely suppressed a laugh at the thought.

"I was in Stefan's place. My ex and current boyfriend hated each other for years, and to be fair, I hated Malfoy for years too, before we got over… those things."

"Wait, you hated each other for years? How old were you?" Elena said skeptically, as Caroline's phone beeped suddenly.

"We knew each other for about… seven years before we started dating? Yes, seven years we studied in the same school, hated each other mostly, and the only conversations we had were spent insulting each other." Hermione smiled, remembering the days till fourth year, when the most of their concern was to survive the latest year and adventure. And in the meanwhile, not to give Malfoy more bragging material or anything to get him started on the annoying 'My father...' rant.

"Aw that's cute." Caroline sighed, and Hermione snapped back to the present, as memories of Ron and Draco snapping at each other also came forward to her mind.

"Yes well, we weren't meant to be anyway. Later, he couldn't get over the fact that I was still best friends with my ex and they constantly-"

"Wait- you were best friends? How does that happen?" It was Elena who interrupted her this time, and Hermione was glad to see that they were getting somewhere, even though it was on the expense of baring her private life to the two. Something that any reporter of the Prophet would die to get their hands on.

"We were always best friends. We'd been friends since we were eleven, though Ron was no better than Draco. It took him four years to realize I was a girl, then another two to realize he was attracted to me, then another year to find the balls to say it."

Caroline and Elena both laughed at that, and Hermione found herself smiling. "So what happened then?" Caroline asked, after her and Elena had stopped giggling. "And when did you realize the same about him?" Elena added.

"Oh I knew since fourth year. Ron was just thick and totally tactless when it came to girls. We wasted a few years that way." Hermione recalled slowly, her mind going back to Lavender and the Sixth year drama. It still gave her chills to think what would have happened on Ron's birthday had he not been in Slughorn's office the time he was poisoned. Caroline's phone buzzed again, and she was forced to bring her mind back to the present again as the blonde frowned at her phone, but snapped it shut again.

"Anyway, we kissed and dated for about… a month, before we decided it wouldn't work." Hermione continued, sipping on her drink, wondering if she could slip in a few mouthfuls of Firewhiskey without the girls noticing.

"Oh, why? You lost interest?" Elena asked.

"No. Not exactly, we just… wanted different things from life, I guess. And it ended being too platonic between us." Hermione shrugged as Caroline finished her drink.

"Well, it was nice to see you again Hermione. But Elena, I just got Mrs. Lockwood's message, they need us at the school." Caroline said, and Elena pouted.

"But I'm on holiday today!" She whined, and Caroline shook her head, chuckling.

"Yeah nice try. If I'm getting roped in, you are too." She said, and got out of her place, while Elena followed suit, making a face.

"It was nice to see you Hermione. I hope we can catch up some time later." Elena said, and Hermione smiled at the pair of them, as Caroline said goodbye as well.

Hermione watched the two leaving with a sense of disappointment - their reason sounded like an excuse to her ears. And just when she thought they had been making progress too - _girl bonding_. As the two left the Grill, a waiter approached her with a drink. "From the gentleman at the bar, Miss." He said, pointing towards the bar, at a man who had his back to her. It took Hermione a minute, but she recognized Damon from his hair, even though she had last seen him about a week ago.

She sighed, nodded thanks to the boy, and sipped the drink he had brought, wondering if she should even talk to him after he had avoided for so long. But who was she kidding – she needed leads where she could find them; of course she couldn't pass up on the opportunity to talk to _him_. His brother had dated Katherine at some point, he was as good as she would get until she could meet Stefan. Finishing the drink and grimacing at the burn, she reluctantly moved towards the bar, taking a seat beside the dark-haired bourbon-loving guy.

"What do you want?" She said glumly, turning towards him. It struck her again – how unfairly handsome he was for a dangerous vampire.

"Nothing. Just wanted to listen to your woes of ball-less ex-boyfriends on a more personal level." He said, turning to her with a disarming smile.

So he was listening. Hermione grimaced to herself as she realized Damon could have been the one who messaged Caroline.

"Yes sure, Damon. Because there's nothing better for us to talk about than _that_." She said sarcastically, even though it was true on some level, as they would only play question-and-dodge because of all the secrets in the way.

"That bad?" he said, raising an eyebrow, smirking infuriatingly. He probably knew how uncomfortable she was, the git, that's why he kept pursuing the stupid topic.

"No, it wasn't. But I'm not about it talk about it with _you_. You've been avoiding me for a while - I'm not particularly in the mood to entertain you. So how about we come to the point? Again, _what do you want_?" She insisted, her tone baring no emotion except boredom.

"Fine, if you're in such a hurry, I'll get to the point. How do you know Katherine?" He said, turning to her seriously, no hint of a smirk on his face. If she didn't know better she would say he sounded upset, but that could be just her own brain overanalyzing things again.

And wait, why was _he_ asking _her_ about Katherine? Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around?

"I – I actually _don't_ know Katherine. I was about to ask what you knew about her." She said carefully, and watched as he frowned.

"But you mentioned her to Stefan." He said, pointing to her with a glass, and she gave a short, skeptical laugh. What in Merlin's name was he talking about?

"Yes, I _mentioned_ her. I never said I knew her. I'm looking for information myself."

"What kind of information?"

"I want to know what happened in 1864." She said, and watched as his face changed suddenly, and he looked away.

Hermione was confused, to say the least. A moment ago, she had felt like they were getting somewhere – he wanted to know about Katherine, she wanted to know about Katherine. They would share information and be on their merry way – it was a win-win.

And just like that, on the mention of 1864, they were back to square one. This proved that something had happened – something that he knew about. But obviously wouldn't tell her easily.

"Well, do you know anything or am I wasting my time?" She inquired again, hoping this wouldn't end up being a waste of time - like every conversation with him seemed to be.

"Why do you want to know?" He said, frown back on his face. Hermione groaned internally - why couldn't he just _tell her_? Why was the idiot so paranoid?

"I – Academic curiosity." She replied and Damon snorted, "Yeah, that got old fast."

Before she could figure out what he meant by that, he had moved in closer, face right in her front of her and looking into her eyes intensely.

"Why do you want to know so much about Katherine? What are you doing in this town?" he said carefully, and immediately, Hermione felt a tug at her mental wards. His voice was ringing in her brain, and she found herself opening her mouth to answer, before she suddenly realized what was happening, and the voice was gone. She blinked twice and Damon was still looking at her expectantly.

Before she knew it, she had let out a peal of laughter. She giggled uncontrollably, as she realized he had tried to compel her and failed, because she knew the theory of Legilimency and Occlumency a bit too well. The feeling of overcoming compulsion felt like that of passing a test, especially one that Damon was expecting her to fail spectacularly.

When she looked back at him, he was staring at her, completely confused. "Nice try." She breathed, taking a sip of her drink and calming down.

"You can't be compelled." Damon said dismally, gulping down his drink. This was when it occurred to her what had actually happened. Damon had tried to compel her to tell what she was doing in the town and why she wanted to know about Katherine, instead of just asking her nicely. Or telling the truth and just giving information.

She grimaced as realization struck – trust was going to be her only friend when dealing with these people. On the other hand – this confirmed the theory that he was a vampire. Well, at least there were no doubts about _that_ now.

"I'm honestly hurt that you wouldn't just ask simply. I wouldn't have minded telling you." She said finally, trying to smile at him glumly as she got out of the seat. He looked up confusedly as she moved to leave, "Where are you going?"

"Home." She said, like the answer was obvious, which it was, and Damon frowned at her for a second, before looking down, grimacing.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it back to your house that first day." He said in a rather small voice, not meeting her eyes, a frown etched on his face as he looked anywhere but at her.

"I'll forgive you, if you tell what you got caught up in." She replied fairly, with a bit of a smile, sitting back down and ordering another soda.

Damon raised his eyebrows at her, but she shrugged - it was upto him to answer. "Fine, Stefan and I got into a... tiff with the Sheriff and Mason Lockwood." he stated, and Hermione's brain launched into overdrive as she once again thought everything over. Idly, her hand searched her jacket for the little flask of Firewhiskey she always kept with herself, as understanding dawned. So that was why Damon wanted to kill Mason. Or was that incident Mason's payback for trying to kill him? Well, it didn't matter, because obviously-

"Mason didn't survive for long after that tiff, did he?"Hermione asked, finally digging out the flask and pouring two sips in her glass half full of soda. She turned towards Damon when he didn't answer, to see him looking at her drink curiously, an eyebrow raised as she tucked the flask back safely in her pocket.

"Mason... has left town." He said finally and Hermione flinched.

"He's dead, isn't he?" she said, and Damon looked at her uncomfortably, probably not liking her reaction- "More or less." he admitted.

Hermione grimaced at once, but nodded - at least now there wasn't a werewolf present in the town, unless she figured out what Tyler Lockwood was. She focused on her drink for a while, and Damon was probably staring at her because she could feel his gaze - it was an uncomfortable sort of twisting in her stomach, and she had the sudden desire to shiver.

"So, Ms. Granger, are you going to tell me why you want to know about Katherine?" Damon said after a while, turning to her with a smirk that lightened up his eyes, tone suddenly sugary-sweet and flirting, like she had come across the first time.

"I would _love_ to tell you, Mr. Salvatore, but unfortunately, I cannot. You, on the other hand, can probably tell me more about her?" She replied, voice saccharine sweet, but Damon shook his head.

"Uh-huh. I probably can. But trust works both ways, Ms. Granger." He said with a sweet smile, and Hermione found herself blinking for a second as her thoughts braked suddenly at the way the smile made his eyes a bit lighter. That wasn't _fair_ – what he could do with a simple smile.

"Fine." She said, turning away, adding more whiskey to her drink and taking a sip slowly as it soothed her throat, "Ask me something other than those two questions."

"Hmm. Okay, how about what _do_ you know about Katherine?" Damon inquired finally, and she pursed her lips – that wasn't very difficult.

"I know almost next to nothing about her, bar the obvious." She said, giving him a meaningful look, and he nodded in a 'Yes, yes' manner. "So that, and the fact that her whole family was massacred by a psychopath. And also that she's probably very clever and good at hide-and-seek if she's still alive."

She watched Damon as he digested that information, blinking rapidly. "I… didn't know that." He said slowly.

"Clearly. Drink?" She said, offering her glass, which he looked at it suspiciously for a second before taking. He sniffed it once, before downing it and Hermione tsked as his eyes flew open comically, and he coughed a bit.

" _What is_ this stuff?" Damon said skeptically, slamming the glass in front of her and lightly rubbing his chest as Hermione laughed silently at his reaction.

"Shouldn't have drank it all at once, honey." She giggled at him as he rolled his eyes at her, but sobered up quickly, knowing that he would be drunk very soon now. "So your turn now?" She asked, and Damon smiled up at her teasingly.

"Nope. Sorry. I still don't trust you." He grinned, and she grimaced, shaking her head again. She should have known this was coming - he was, after all, a sneaky bastard.

"But you _can_ trust me, you know. I don't know how to make you realize that." She remarked, standing up and frowning at him thoughtfully. What could she do to make sure of that? What had she not tried yet – except telling him all her secrets that would get her executed by the bloody Ministry?

"It's earned, 'lil Brit, it's earned." He slurred quietly, turning towards her and she saw his eyes unfocus for a second before he blinked at her again.

Right. He was drunk. The firewhiskey had just sped up the job. She watched as he turned to the bar - knowing he would pass out any second. She should've made sure he was found by the right people, but right then, she couldn't care less. He was being difficult - he deserved it.

Hermione turned around and walked outside quickly, sighing. She had one last shot to avoid an undoubtedly awkward conversation with three vampires in her living room. Making sure she had the packets in the back seat of the car, she desolately drove towards the Post Office, her mind still on the stubborn and paranoid drunk vampire she had left on the bar.

* * *

 _"…perhaps you take pride in being an insufferable know-it-all…"_

 _"…there are more important things. Friendship and bravery…"_

 _"…Merry Christmas, Hermione!..."_

 _"…WHAT ELSE DID YOU TAKE FROM THE VAULT…"_

 _"…you filthy little mudblood…"_

 _"…ten points from Gryffindor for being a know-it-all…"_

 _"…Hermione, you're back!..."_

 _"…I get it. You choose him…"_

 _"…WHAT ELSE? ANSWER ME! CRUCIO!"_

Hermione woke with a gasp, body and the sheets beneath her covered with sweat, her heart beating like she'd run a marathon. There was a throbbing pain in her left forearm and her head was pounding in her ears. Or was it her heart?

Images flashed in front of her eyes, the bedroom not visible to her as she breathed deeply, trying to fight the overwhelming fear of being hit by the Cruciatus any second. A few minutes passed before she could see her surroundings clearly and make out the ornate ceiling of her bedroom, which was unnervingly similar to that of Malfoy Manor; and dispel the torturous thoughts from her mind.

She tried to roll over but pain shot through her arm – she pushed her sleeve up gingerly, dreading to see proof of what she was almost sure had happened. And sure enough, the scar on her arm was smarting, a faint red tinge on the edges, looking like a fresh wound ready to bleed.

"Great." She muttered thickly, and tried to close her eyes and mind to the unpleasant memories that the horrible mark summoned.

She grudgingly opened her eyes again when the feat was proved impossible, and pushed herself off the bed, staring around the dark bedroom. Walking slowly to the large windows, she pushed a curtain aside to see that it was the crack of dawn. Great, now she wouldn't be able to sleep at all.

Hermione stretched languidly and yawned, and the scar seared painfully again. She cast a disgusting look at the thing marring her arm, the presence of which even the best Healers of St. Mungos's had not been able to explain. Ron had remarked once that it was almost like Harry's scar, and she recalled how disgusting it had made her feel, later realizing that was how Harry had felt like most of his life. It was supposed to fade after that bitch's death but no, as fate would have it, it didn't.

Instead, whenever she happened to have a particularly bad nightmare, especially about _her_ , it would tear open and start bleeding fresh. Hermione had made sure to stock up on the salve that healed it quickly; and even though she had avoided nightmares for more than a year with the help of special treatment from St. Mungo's, they were coming back slowly ever since she had had that talk with Caroline.

Shivering a bit, Hermione pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind and climbed down the stairs to the kitchen to search for the salve. She had a long day ahead – she had finally figured out how to make a vervain bomb last night, and finished with two of Luna's new books. They were… quite interesting, to say the least. Since the Viking legends were true, stories about other immortal beings like Silas, Qetsiyah, the Cure, The Brotherhood of The Five, etc. also had to be true. She was so excited to go through the rest of Luna's books and sort George's products, that she almost forgot what she had done yesterday.

Got Damon Salvatore drunk and most probably blew the only chance at having a civilized conversation with the vampires. Anyhow, she didn't really regret her actions – she'd still give anything to see their faces the first time they realized what she had sent.

* * *

Damon was… _confused_. Yeah, confused would be the right word, unless his pride allowed him to use ' _mind-blown by small British girl-something_ '. There was a loud noise somewhere above him – Stefan. He was talking, something about saving the day probably. Something might have happened to the bane of their normal-vampire-existence Elena and now Stefan was probably up to his hero hair in shit.

There was loud BANG by his side, and he immediately groaned and tried to roll over to get away from the noise as it reverberated painfully in his skull like it was a fucking boom box, but then found himself flying down to the floor, entangled in sheets.

He blinked as sunlight suddenly scorched his eyeballs and he wondered if his ring had reached it's expiry date.

"DAMON!" His brother's annoying voice shouted; he flinched painfully as the inside of his brain lit on fire and he moved his hands to his ears, trying to block it out. He blinked rapidly as something moved and the sun was back in face, trying to gouge out his eyeballs.

"Huh?" What was going on again? His tongue felt like it had swollen to twice it's size – and why was his brain so slow? And would somebody just pull those damn curtains _already_?

He decided to stand up and pulled the curtains in one swift motion, but that was ultimately a _bad_ idea. Because as soon as he stopped moving, everything around him revolved at an alarming speed. He was about to hit the ground – _or was it the wall?_ – when Stefan was suddenly under him, supporting him from one side. There were several loud shouts of his name from somewhere, all of which struck painfully in his ears. _Damn stupid intensified hearing_.

With a huge effort, he finally moved a finger to his lips, and pressed it there; his brother seemed to nod in understanding, but he wasn't sure.

Stefan, and the other person on his side, supported him to a bed, hopefully his own, and he sat carefully, blinking around in the room – there were some people standing around his bed. He could make out two brunettes of contrasting size – most probably Bonnie and Elena, and the blonde blur would be Caroline. Rick was on his other side, and Stefan was standing above him.

"Am I _dying_?" he asked finally, and his voice hurt his own ears – it sounded too hoarse, like a chainsaw, and he wondered if they understood what he was saying. So many people crowding around his bed could only mean that he was probably about to die. There was no other way Blondie would ever visit _him_.

"What? Alaric found you passed out on the bar – what the hell did you drink?" His brother said from somewhere above him – he still couldn't see properly – and he struggled to remember what exactly had happened.

"Argh... that little _bitch_." He groaned as he remembered what had happened. That little Brit had so innocently offered him a drink, he had drunk _God-knows-what_ out of curiosity and – and that was the last thing he remembered. She had been rambling on about trust, or something.

"Who? Did someone vervain you or something?" Rick said confusedly, and he frowned again, remembering that he had smelled it before downing it at once like a fucking idiot.

"Brother, get water. For the first time in my post-death life, I feel _properly_ hung over."

* * *

 **So, thoughts? What d'you think?**

 **Firstly, this one's Beta'ed by the lovely _lavanyalabelle_ , please pray my great beta gets well soon so I can shower you all in great updates. **

**Secondly, I'm uploading a Post-War story that can be traced vaguely to this, please check it out in the profile if you're interested. It'll cover the origins of the gang, hope it gets the same nice response as this one.**

 **See you in a fortnight!**


	7. Chapter 7

**OH MY GOD I'm almost upto a 100 reviews. I cannot believe this and nor can I believe that I have such amazing readers, I love all of you guys. Especially** _ **keeeeeez**_ **whose review actually got this update finally done. Not to mention the lovely** _ **lavanyalabelle**_ **, without whom you would not have such a fine reading experience. If this chapter seems slightly off on the grammar side, it's because this one isn't Beta-ed yet but it will be soon!**

 **Also, sorry for the lateness as I got sick and lost inspiration to update etc but I am back now. I really really hope you guys like this one and I cannot wait for your response! Thanks to all you guys and guest reviewers and kate, for the support and love. Enjoy this one guys!**

 **Chapter 7**

It was an hour before he could hear sounds at a normal volume. He'd realized later that everyone had been whispering, and also that he had apparently been out for fifteen-something hours. More than half a day. He was going to strangle the bitch the next time he saw her. Was that her way of imbibing trust?

They still couldn't figure out what the hell she had given him, 'cause it wasn't vervain because he remembered sniffing it, and it wasn't poison because the bitch had drank it herself before he had. He probably shouldn't have drunk it all in one gulp.

When he had told this to the false-alarm-funeral procession waiting in the living room, and thoroughly abused the Brit, Blondie had laughed. _Laughed_ in his face, saying she actually like the little – little curly-haired, stupidly wise British _thing_. He would have snarled at her, or threatened her, had he not known that it would cause him another brain-splitting headache. He had glared at her for good measure, and she had left with Elena and Bonnie in tow, all three giggling nauseatingly like a pair of - a pair of _girls_.

Rick had just waited around to make sure he wasn't poisoned or anything, as they had all theorized before he woke up and then left for school as well, along with his little brother. He had spent the day sleeping it off, cursing the midget in his dreams for the spectacular headache he was supporting, and the fact that he had to hold the railing before walking proper for at least two hours. He'd also spent some time recalling the conversation from yesterday – the lesser known facts about Katherine's family, the fact that she was running from a psychopath, and that she was clever bitch; the last of which he'd already known.

That still didn't solve the mystery of the Brit – she was in town only to search about Katherine, she was eager to end the useless conversation and get back to her house, she couldn't be compelled, though that could be easily chalked up to vervain, although it didn't explain her reaction when she found out she had resisted compulsion – like she wasn't sure vervain worked? Then there was that drink – not vervain, not poison, not a sedative, as she should have passed out before him if that was the case. Also, she wouldn't say _why_ it was that she was searching for that bitch. It didn't add up. _She_ didn't add up.

It was evening when the doorbell rang. Weird – no one _ever_ rang their doorbell, everyone mostly just waltzed right in. He was glad to find that he could walk properly though, and reached the door the same time as Stefan, who looked as confused as him.

His brother opened the door to find no one outside. Huh.

"What's this?" Stefan muttered, picking up two packages from the ground. Damon risked moving out in the sun and checked outside – there was no one in sight as far as he could tell.

"Wonder who rang the bell." Damon muttered, as Stefan turned the package over in his hands.

"There's one with your name on it." He said, and handed him a package, one which was slightly bigger than Stefan's. Sure enough, his name was written in green ink on thick yellow paper and he carefully opened it.

"Is this parchment?" He heard Stefan ask, but he was too busy examining the contents.

A small flask had fallen into his hands – 'For the Hangover' a slip on the side said. There was another smaller packing. He opened it and found little colored balls – it looked like some sort of _candy_. He frowned and looked up at Stefan to see him mirroring the expression. Stefan paused for a second and sniffed the little round balls, before his face cleared.

"It smells of blood." He stated, and Damon sniffed his. Yep, it was blood alright. Was this some sort of joke? Had someone sent them _candy_ , made of _blood_? How sick was that?

He was about to voice his thoughts when Stefan's phone rang, and he picked, throwing him a meaningful look. "Yes Caroline?"

Had Blondie got them too-?

Stefan nodded at his unasked question, "Yeah we got them too. Why don't you come over and bring Bonnie? Don't do anything with them."

"Alright, and no need to tell Elena, it could be nothing." Stefan added and Damon found himself rolling his eyes, his brother was so _whipped_.

"It's that little British bitch Hermione." Damon said, as soon as Stefan had shut the phone.

" _What_? The same who gave you the drink yesterday? How do you know?" His brother said, pouring two drinks and handing him one, while they waited for Bonnie and Blondie to arrive. Hey, that rhymed! He was so using that today. He also handed Stefan the little bottle and the slip she had sent 'For the Hangover'.

"Yesterday, before I drank whatever magic juice she was drinking that didn't effect her – we were talking about Katherine. She wanted to know about 1864, and I wanted to know how and why _she_ knew Katherine."

Stefan thought carefully before replying, "You think she knows what we are, and she wants to know how we turned?"

 _What_? No wait – that had never occurred to him… And neither had the Brit mentioned anything about him turning, or other vampire stuff. "No, she never mentioned me or you. She was only interested in the bitch and what happened to _her_. Not a sniff about us." He said, frowning, watching as his brother thought it through.

"Huh. Why did she want to know?"

"I don't know, Stefan. We played the trust game, she told me she only knew that Katherine's family was slaughtered by a psychopath which means she was running scared from someone. She apparently wanted to satiate her 'academic curiosity'." He replied, rolling his eyes as Stefan took time to catch on to that piece of information.

"The Atlanta fires were obviously a lie. Didn't know her family were actually gone. It makes sense though." Stefan said finally, pouring himself another drink.

"How so?"

"She got caught because father laced my blood with vervain, so she's been sipping that ever since. Means she doesn't repeat mistakes. Makes sense that she lost her family once, that's why she didn't consider the tomb vampires family at all. When she ratted them out, it was with no regrets."

"Whatever. She never seemed the family type anyway." Damon replied after a while, his brother's explanation made sense. Katherine with a mother and father seemed completely surreal, even in his mind's eye.

"Who never seemed the family type?" A voice asked from the door, and Caroline entered, followed by Bonnie and Alaric.

"Hey, I thought I would check up on you and I ran into Caroline and Bonnie outside. What's this about suspicious candy?" Rick said, coming to a halt by Stefan and pouring himself a drink.

Sometimes, Damon thought the guy might hate him, but then sometimes he had his back, and then there were times like this – that assured him that Rick only put up with him because of his generousness with the bar.

"Thought we made clear she just happened to get me drunk on some _really_ strong stuff." Damon said, snatching Rick's glass for himself as he tsked.

"Could be a slow acting poison." Rick countered, and poured himself another drink.

"I was counting on that!" BonBon said, fake-smiling at him, and plonking down on the couch.

"Again, she drank it herself. What idiot would do that?" Damon replied to her again, watching the witch as she examined the contents of his brother's packet.

"What if it was just some really concentrated vervain?" Blondie asked, and he took a deep breath to calm himself – _how_ many times was he going to repeat that part?

"Caroline, what is this?" he said, pointing at his nose, and the blonde looked at him confusedly. "It's your nose, Damon…" she said uncertainly, looking sideways at Stefan.

"Exactly. And I know how to use it. SO it can't be vervain because I sniffed it before drinking. It smelled _nothing_ like it."

"Okay, I'm just saying that if she has something that can cause – whatever happened to you, in a vampire, we should know what it is. It can be dangerous."

"It could be an accident – you did say you shouldn't have drunk it at once. It would also explain why she left you at the bar. She could have kidnapped you or something if she wanted."

"Yeah, no." he scoffed, "Have you _seen_ her? I think she's not even of age. She is _minute_ , BonBon, maybe even smaller than you."

"Alright, fine. So what's wrong with this candy? Or whatever it is?" she said examining the bottle that had come with his package.

"It's made from blood. Whoever sent it, knows about us, and this could very well be a threat." Blondie replied, coming next to Bonnie and frowning, "Hey, this says 'for the Hangover'. Why haven't you drunk it yet?"

"Because of the fact that I passed out for half a day the last time I drunk something she gave me?" he replied, rolling his eyes again. Why did she keep on asking such _obvious_ questions?

"That means these are from her too?" She said, as Rick moved over towards her, frowning. He uncorked the little flask – it barely had a mouthful of the syrup – and sniffed it carefully.

"Her who? The British girl who almost poisoned Damon?" Bonnie said, and he sighed loudly, wondering why everyone kept mentioning the obvious.

Though that meant the witch had apparently not met her yet. Caroline had met her in the woods during the days her mother had been in the cellar, and had a drink at her house; Stefan had met her at the Lockwoods; and Alaric had been introduced to her yesterday, after which he had deliberately suggested her to go to the Grill and messaged him immediately after, so that he had a chance to talk to her. Bonnie, on the other hand, hadn't had the honors yet.

"The very same. She was desperate for some answers yesterday and kept saying we needed to trust her. This might be a pathetic attempt at that." he said, and wondered if that was the case, why had she sent these _things_ in such a threatening way? Why hadn't she come herself? She knew where the house was, she had dropped Jeremy the other day.

"I think you're over estimating her. She doesn't sound very dangerous to me. Looks like she just wants to be on friendly terms, as far as I understand." Bonnie said, handing back the packages, and Rick frowned, "How'd you figure that?"

"Well, it looks like she got Damon drunk, then sent him something to help with the hangover, and thought it would be nice for you to have something as a replacement for blood bags – sounds good to me." The witch explained complacently, hoisting her bag up, getting ready to leave but Damon moved in front of her before she could take another step.

"Yeah, I don't think so. I think she's not completely human and is screwing with us on purpose, and is definitely hiding something." he replied, smiling at an infuriated Bonnie, who gave up trying to side step him, and sat on the couch again.

"Okay, _why_ do you think she's not human?" His brother asked, moving to sit opposite Bonnie with a drink.

"Well, for one, I couldn't compel her yesterday – "

"She could be on vervain – "

"Yes, I considered that Rick, but ah – how do I put this? You know how Bonnie smells different to us?" He asked, turning to Stefan and Caroline, who both nodded unsurely, casting uncertain looks in the witch's direction, who looked slightly alarmed.

"What? How – what exactly do I smell like?" She asked, looking very much creeped out by the fact, and he found himself smirking at her.

"Like blood mixed with natural grass, if you must know BonBon." He said, and she shivered disgustedly, to which he smirked, "Anyway, the first day I met her, we were talking and I happened to get a sniff of her blood, which turned out to be quite… unappetizing."

"What do you mean? I never noticed that." Blondie said, thinking hard, probably trying to remember if she had gotten a chance to smell her blood.

"She smelled like some sort of half-animal… like a badger or something." He said, looking at Stefan, "You could probably guess the right one – you're the animal blood expert."

"Wait, you think she's some sort of half-animal or something? She's not a werewolf, is she?" Rick said, looking disturbed with the thought.

"No, werewolves have a very specific _stench_ , that we can very easily tell apart." Stefan said, looking deep in thought.

"Yes, well there's that, and also the fact that if she really wanted to just play good, she should have come herself. And I don't know if you noticed, but she's pretty reluctant to get out of her house." Damon finished, looking at Stefan, "You get why we need to have a talk with her now? She is definitely not human. Or just human. And she's hiding something."

Stefan nodded, conceding his point but still looking unsure. "Fine then. We talk to her, but civilly. No threatening or anything."

"That's not gonna be of any use brother. I've already tried that twice. I say we go to her house, get her to invite us in, then try to threaten her with a show of white pearly fangs, and hope she talks."

"But no biting!" Caroline said, looking as unsure as Stefan, and he remembered how she had bonded with the girl at the Grill yesterday, and he had to message her twice to get her ass out of there.

"And that's my cue to leave." Bonnie said, standing up and getting her bag, but Damon frowned and caught her arm before she could leave.

"Oh no. You're gonna help BonBon. You'll be going inside the house, and do some convincing to let us in."

"Yeah, like hell. I'm not gonna help you torture some innocent just because she pissed you off." She replied, glaring at him her usual witch glare, the one that threatened to pop his blood vessels in a minute if he didn't let go.

"Because she pissed me off?! Have you not been _listening_ -?" He pulled back suddenly as she fried his hand, and he was about to grab her neck, when Rick spoke up from behind him.

"Hey hey! Let her go, I'm human, I can get in and do all that stuff." Rick said, coming forward towards him and slapping his shoulder.

"Still, a little witchy help wouldn't be terrible." He said, glaring at Bonnie as she stared back at him with equal loathing. Why were these witches so damn stubborn?

"Just let her go, Damon. I've been invited in as well, I'm sure we can manage without Bonnie. I'll lure her out and you can question her outside." Caroline said, exchanging an unsure look with his brother, who shrugged. Because Saint Stefan knew he was right to ask for Bonnie's help, but no, the stupid witch was just too stubborn to see the damn point.

"Fine. But if anyone gets hurt, it's on you Bonnie." He said finally, and the witch left with a last sneer in his direction. He turned back to his bar, pouring himself one last drink before they left for the Brit's house.

* * *

Half an hour later, they were standing outside the large mansion-like house, one which rivaled the Lockwood's house in size. The gate was large and black, and unlocked. If everything went according to plan, this would be easy as hell, because whatever the Brit was, they had the numbers on her. Rick and Stefan were standing on either side of him and Blondie was looking at the gate, still unsure.

"You won't hurt her, right Damon?" She said in a small voice, turning to him, eyes worried.

"Do you want me to hurt _you_?" He said impatiently, rolling his eyes as the blonde turned back, she was _so_ overly emotional about everything.

"Okay, it's just that she's my friend-" She said, turning back again from halfway to the gate –

" _Yes_. I know. Get on with it." He snapped, and she nodded and took another deep breath before walking forward.

She reached the gate and was about to pull it, before stopping again. Seriously, what the hell had they been thinking when they brought her along? She was such a freaking _softie_.

"Are you going to do it or do I have to snap your neck -" He began, walking towards her, but Stefan stopped him.

"Wait – Caroline, what's wrong?" Stefan said, frowning at the blonde's back. She pulled her hand back and tried again, but it stopped at the same place as before.

"I can't – I can't get through." She said turning back to them with a frown, and tried again, with more force this time, but it stopped there again.

"But you said you were invited in." Stefan said, and walked to stand beside her. He tried to touch the gates, but his hand stopped at the same distance as her. Huh, what the hell was going on?

"Rick, you try." Damon said, and Alaric tried, but the result was same. He couldn't get through. After they had all tried once again, they wandered around for a minute in silence, trying other parts of the gate, but it was impossible to touch.

Stefan tried jumping on the wall, but collided with what looked, or didn't, like an invisible barrier. They tried the same around the whole property but there was no part of the house that was breach able. Even Alaric was unable to touch the gate, or wall, or anything else.

"I don't understand. If you were invited in, it shouldn't be a problem." Stefan said, frowning at Caroline.

"Maybe she transferred the ownership of the house or something?" Damon suggested, his mind running miles ahead, as he realized that she barely left the house. At least, he hadn't seen her in town much. And now this barrier, she was definitely hiding something in the house.

"I should still be able to enter, I'm human." Rick said, frowning at the gate.

"The day I entered the house, I remember passing through here, there was a weird feeling when I got through the gate. I dismissed it at the time, thinking I was just being paranoid, but now that I think about it, it felt like a force field of some kind." Caroline said slowly, hands still trying to touch the gate. She was moving them along thin air, like following a wall, but it didn't seem to make any sense.

"What like an electric force-field?" he said, trying to make sense of her words, but he couldn't. He hadn't come across anything like this in the last century, and from the look on Stefan's face – neither had he.

"I don't know. But she's home. Her car's in the garage." The blonde said, squinting through the gates. He moved next to her and saw the black SUV parked in the rather small shed, those weird tattoos visible even from afar.

"Maybe it's something related to that? Her being home?" Damon said, and Caroline frowned, shaking her head, "She was in last the time I came. It can't be."

"Still, it doesn't hurt to check." Rick said, taking out his phone and moving away from them.

"What's he doing?" Caroline said, but Damon could hear him – he was talking to Jenna.

"He's checking up on Jenna." Stefan said, looking at Alaric's back, "I have an idea. How about we draw her out of the house tomorrow and come back and try again? One of us can stay with her and the others can try getting in the house. Even if we don't get anything out of her, we can search her house for information. She's definitely hiding something here."

Rick walked back to them, cutting off his phone, and nodding at Stefan, "Exactly. She didn't visit Jenna today. So she's going to go tomorrow. That'll be our chance."

"What if we still can't get into the house?" Damon, still frowning at the car – there was something weird about those tattoos. He remembered seeing her car at the Lockwoods – there was a quote in Latin on one of side of it, but he couldn't remember what it was. And who used Latin these days? Except for horrible proverbs and innuendos.

"Well, then we make sure we corner her outside. She hasn't met Bonnie yet, right?" Stefan said, turning to Caroline, who shook her head, "Good. Then Rick, you make sure Bonnie visits Jenna tomorrow. If we can't get in, we'll head to the hospital and see what happens."

"And if we do enter, you keep her busy, so we can poke around for a while." Damon said to Rick, turning away from the car as he finally remembered the quote.

'Never tickle a sleeping dragon' – why did that suddenly sound so ominous to their situation?

* * *

Jenna was sleeping when Hermione arrived at the hospital with some homemade cookies for her the next morning. Well, they had been made by Mrs. Weasley, but they didn't need to know that. Jenna's room was unusually crowded that day, Alaric was there, busy on his phone, and Elena was talking to a dark skinned girl when she entered.

"Hey Hermione. How are you?" Elena said, and Hermione could spot an undercurrent of extra effort in the smile when she looked towards her. She knew then. Damon had most probably informed her about their unsuccessful attempts to enter the house yesterday.

Hermione had been inside, working on the weapons in the basement, when she had felt the wards tingle late in the evening. It was a vampire and it took her some time, and a set of George's Extended Extendable Ears, to recognize that it was Caroline trying to get in. Soon she had heard Stefan and Damon there as well, along with Alaric, and had considered lowering the wards. But then, she would have to invite them in and answer questions about the wards, not to mention that she had been reeking of vervain at the time, which would be impossible to explain to them without getting a hostile reaction – something she was trying to avoid at all costs. Then she had heard of their plan to lure her out, so that they could check out the house.

That had felt like a good idea, and this morning before leaving, she had made sure that the door to the basement was well-hidden, the pictures were not moving, and that all traces of anything magical in the house were gone. Except Crookshanks, who she could do nothing about, except hope that he didn't claw someone's eyes out because he didn't like them.

She had also heard them mention Bonnie, who had to be the dark-skinned girl smiling at her right now.

"I'm good Elena. I brought cookies for Jenna." She smiled at both the girls and Bonnie stood up to make place for her to sit.

"Hermione, this is my best friend Bonnie. Bonnie, Hermione. You two haven't met before, have you?" Elena said, and Hermione smiled and shook her head, moving to sit beside Bonnie, who smiled at her.

"Hi." Hermione returned the dark girl's smile a bit apprehensively as the three sat crammed together on the couch. It was a second before Alaric seemed to take Elena's hint and got up from his chair with a "Oh sorry!".

"Cookies smell nice Hermione." Alaric smiled at her in greeting, picking the box from Jenna's side and curiously biting into one. "These taste even more _amazing!_ " he moaned through a mouthful, smiling widely at her, grabbing another cookie and passing the box to Elena and Bonnie.

Elena and Bonnie tried one each interestedly and Hermione watched Mrs. Weasley's cooking do half her work as the girls hummed satisfactorily. "Thanks Hermione, though I think these won't last till Jenna wakes. Girls, I'll be outside." Alaric said, smiling awkwardly and walking out, phone in one hand and snatching another piece from the box on the way.

"Hermione, these are absolutely great. They remind me of the ones Bonnie's grams used to make." Elena said happily, before she caught Bonnie's eye. Her smile seemed to have frozen into place, though she recovered relatively quickly. "Yeah, actually they do. Freakishly so, now that I think about it." Bonnie quipped, though her voice sounded a bit strangled to Hermione's ears. She hadn't known about this little piece of information, but that made her wonder if the death was because of a natural cause.

"I'm sorry, Bonnie. I didn't know." She said, looking apologetically at Bonnie as her green eyes looked suddenly too bright. Her eyes were almost the same shade as Harry's - if not a bit darker. It did nothing to help Hermione's nerves. Elena rubbed Bonnie's arm and tried to smile supportingly as Bonnie wiped her eyes with a half-smile. It was such a Harry-like attempt at being brave, Hermione felt a sudden stab of longing for her best friend.

"No, it's okay, Hermione. You didn't know." Bonnie said finally, trying to smile again, "Anyway, did you make these yourself? Because they do taste like Grams' cooking..." She said, taking another bite slowly.

"Uh, actually, one of my friends Mom made it. She has a knack for this sort of thing." Hermione replied, her mind running another way - she knew Mrs. Weasley's recipe like the back of her hand, and it definitely contained at least three magical ingredients that she told no one about - except her and Ginny of course. Could it be that Bonnie's grams was a...

"Well, these do taste exactly like hers, I think I would love to meet your friend's Mom." Elena said, and Bonnie giggled alongside her. "Bonnie, what did your Grams do?" Hermione said, watching as the two stopped laughing again. Elena looked ready to glare at her but Bonnie seemed... disoriented.

"She taught occult at the University. Whitmore, it's about a two hour drive from here." Bonnie said, her voice a bit off, as she exchanged a meaningful look with Elena. Hermione couldn't care less that they were suspicious - Whitmore rang more bells in her head because of it's role in the Augustine Society and their illegal experiments. As far as she could remember, not many of the staff were involved -

"Is that so? What was her name?" She asked again, and there was definite apprehension in Bonnie's voice as she replied, "Sheila Bennett. Why? Did you know her?"

Bennett - the key to breaking every damn curse in Viking history. Bonnie was a Bennett. Hermione wanted to laugh at the irony - this was so absurd. There was a bloody _Bennett witch_ in Mystic Falls. Everyone in this town was totally screwed.

"Oh, uh I guess no." She replied to the staring girls, who looked just this side of alarmed. Bonnie hadn't recognized her - did that mean she was unaware of the wizarding world, or was she playing coy? As Hermione looked back at the pair she dismissed the second possibility - Bonnie looked very confused right now. The Bennetts had most probably fled from Salem during the witch trials. If Bonnie's grandmother taught at the University, that meant they were one of the few families who had dispersed into muggles after the witch trials. It would make sense that Bonnie was home schooled and wasn't aware of the wizarding world at all.

The witch, the dark haired Bennett witch, completely unaware of what she was and where she actually belonged, was staring at her right now with a completely confused expression on her face. It reminded her of Harry in first year, when she had met him on the train - new, innocent and unaware.

"I'm going to drink water. See you in a bit." Hermione said, and quickly dashed out of the room before the girls could reply. This revelation had also reminded of the other problem on her hands -

Bonnie was a _witch_.

A vampire, a werewolf, a witch and the moonstone. Only the doppelganger was missing. Now if only she could spot two versions of someone running around. Or found a picture of Katherine somewhere. Then she would know what to look for.

If Katherine's doppelganger was out and about, she was sure she would have heard about it, right? It would be Breaking News in the supernatural world… Unless they didn't know about it. But Stefan had dated Katherine, so he should know – right? But he was also dating Elena – this was such a mess!

As Hermione walked through the hospital, trying to find water, she felt a push at the wards. Right. So Alaric had probably told Damon and Co. that she was here. She took a breath and lowered the wards just enough so that they could pass through. It took about half a minute, Damon, Stefan and Caroline seemed to be testing them – to make sure they could come in and go out as they pleased. A minute later, it was over, and she could feel them finally entering the gates.

Well, that was done. Caroline wouldn't find anything suspicious so if she could explain the wards somehow, hopefully, they would start trusting her. And even if they didn't - she would have Bonnie at her side. She had no idea what the girl knew or didn't know - about herself, her history, her importance - but she needed to be told all of that and Hermione had a feeling that it would have to be her who had to set off that firework under Bonnie Bennett's nose.

* * *

 **So, so, so? What are we thinking? Will Caroline find anything? Do you think Hermione forgot something important? Well, sure she's the brightest witch of her age, but eh...**

 **What do you think?**


	8. Chapter 8

**Yes I'm back and Yes I'm a horrible person. But I'd just like to thank y'all who've still stuck with me. Life has been difficult. I lost someone important and as we can see, fanfiction is my escape as usual. Meanwhile, I know I haven't answered many reviews but I'd still like to mention that I'm in debt to you guys for my sanity. Some of my lowest points in the day end with me going through reviews and they help me get out of it. Anyway, hope this is satisfactory and I'v already written the next one, so I'll update it next Monday or Sunday for sure.**

 **Without further ado - Enjoy!**

* * *

Caroline was sure that something was very wrong. This whole situation was the definition of wrong. Hermione was her friend – she had talked to her and cheered her up when she was having a difficult time with her Mom, she had talked to Elena and took her mind off of Stefan, even though it was just for a while. So spying around inside her house was the last thing she should be doing.

She was a decent person, and whatever Damon thought she was, she was sure Hermione meant no harm to them. But Damon and Stefan couldn't enter because they hadn't been invited in, so they were counting on her to search through the house for anything suspicious. Her living room was clean – there were many pictures of her with two boys on the mantelpiece. Two faces were constant in every picture – a boy with messy hair and spectacles, and another tall lanky boy with freckles. She was running commentary on whatever she was seeing for Damon and Stefan's benefit, and Damon had smirked when she had reached the pictures.

"Bet you anything one of them is Ron." He had smirked, and Caroline had turned to him with a teasing smile, "Eavesdropping on her love life, Damon?"

His face had changed within a second and she laughed at his expression, and seen the pictures carefully once more, before announcing that the long and lanky one was Ron.

"How can you tell?" Stefan asked, looking confusedly between the two of them, probably wondering what they were talking about. "Hunch." Caroline had replied, and moved on from the living room.

She was in the kitchen, though most cabinets were locked. "The cupboards are locked. I can't break them – it's like they're made of steel. Or something worse." Both Stefan and Damon perked up at this, and she spent half an hour trying to open those cabinets, but to no use.

"Hey, there's a cat." She said, as she saw the large orange cat move towards her. It's face looked like it had hit the wall one too many times, and it was a bit bigger than the average cat, and Caroline was sure from his eyes that it was judging her heavily.

She moved back to the drawing room as the cat sniffed her for a while, before it kept moving around in circles around her legs. It was so cute! And soft…

"Caroline, will you stop petting the cat and get to _work_?" Damon said, irritation barely sustained in his voice as he watched her with a frown. The cat in her arms seemed to sense this, because it perked up towards the sound and watched Damon. Before she knew it, he had jumped down from her arms and was hissing at Damon, making high-pitched noises and spitting foully in his direction, hair on end.

Damon was staring at it with raised eyebrows, a Stefan was bent over laughing. Caroline giggled at him and slowly pet the cat and pulled it away. It trailed after her interestedly all the while, as she checked the bedroom – there were many personal touches to the room, more pictures, some of what looked like her parents, and more of the same people who were in the pictures downstairs. She had a feeling that many of them were related to Ron, but she couldn't be sure. The only unusual thing in the bedroom was that the mirror had a huge crack in it, which looked rather recent.

"Maybe she chucked something at it in anger? She isn't even strong enough to break a mirror – definitely human." Stefan suggested when she told it to them. The rest of the bedrooms looked uninhabited and were not even cleaned out, so she headed back downstairs.

"The only suspicious thing is the kitchen cabinets. She could be some kind of scientist or something?" she suggested, walking back at the door.

"That never bodes well. Trust me." Damon said, frowning at the cat as it followed her towards the door, "Did you check the bar?"

"Uh, no. I don't think there's anything – it's completely dusty and unused." She replied, but Damon shook his head – "No, check it out once. Check for a break in the dust line – I have a feeling that's the best place to hide something if it doesn't look like she uses it."

"Look like? You mean she does actually use it?" Stefan asked, as she turned back towards the bar and did what Damon had said – trying not to touch anything much otherwise it would be too obvious that someone had been disturbing things here.

"Of course she uses it. Whatever I drank from her glass, she'd added it for herself. And she had a small bottle full of it on her – whatever it was, was alcoholic. Of course she drinks. That doesn't add up to the fact that she doesn't use her bar. What kind of person likes drinking, carries the stuff on themselves, but doesn't use their bar?" She heard Damon reason in hindsight as she moved towards the back.

"Guys, there's nothing here – wait." She stopped, noticing a webbed piece of board. She pulled away the webs – they didn't look fake, but the board, it was less dusty than the others. She knocked twice on it – it was hollow.

"Looks like I found something." She said, removing the board, and sure enough, there was a small steel door behind the two boards – big enough for a short person to enter. The steel door wasn't even locked. She pushed it slightly, but it didn't budge. She pushed again, and again, and it opened on the third try. She almost rolled over forwards but managed to remain standing.

"Okay, I'm in. It looks like some sort of basement… Oh no."

* * *

Damon's mind was reeling with all the information they had discovered today. It was late in the evening, the Brit was probably back at her house, and so were they. Stefan had filled Rick and Bonnie in on the phone, and they had come over immediately, leaving Elena in charge of Jenna. His brother had tried hard to keep Elena out of the loop and both Rick and Bonnie had agreed, deciding to keep the stuff they had found out about from Elena.

"You're sure she's a vampire hunter?" Bonnie asked, for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Yes, I saw all the weapons myself and books – tons of books. Every surface was covered with books. I didn't have much time to read the titles, but they didn't look very promising – mostly folklore and legends and curses, etc. But there were guns and I could smell the vervain everywhere." Blondie explained, still looking somewhat shaken.

They were all felling thankful now, obviously, for his amazing instincts, because if they hadn't checked the bar, they would still be completely clueless about Miss Granger's little secret basement. Something still didn't add up, and he was trying to think over everything, wondering why it felt like he'd missed something.

"It doesn't make sense. She claims to be a researcher, knows about vampires, but doesn't know anything about Katherine." Rick said, thinking aloud, "Then she just happens to get Damon, a vampire, so drunk that he passes out, then sends him a cure for the hangover, along with something that looks suspiciously like candy made from blood?"

Rick was right – it made no sense but to him, it sounded like they were just running around in circles, repeating everything over and over without making sense of it.

"If we rule out the part with Damon and the hangover, we have a theory." Bonnie said carefully after a while, and he turned to her expectantly. "She comes into town researching vampires, wants to know about Katherine. Right?"

"Yep, that's what she said." He nodded, and Bonnie continued, "So Stefan, at the Lockwood's you said you mentioned Katherine, which could be the reason she's asking Damon about her, because she thinks you know a lot about her."

"Doesn't explain the candy." Rick remarked, and Bonnie quickly intervened, "No, it does actually. Damon said they were talking about trust when he didn't tell her about Katherine, and she seemed quite interested in getting us to trust her. So if you rule out the hangover and it's cure, because that was actually Damon's fault, the candy can be chalked up to a gift for all the people she knows are vampires."

Damon pursed his lips – her explanation fit somewhat. He didn't like that.

"What about the weapons?" He asked, but Caroline shook her head – "That's easily explained. Anyone who knows about the existence of vampires will take precautions. It's natural."

"What about her blood? And that house barrier? How do we explain that?" Stefan asked, and there was silence again as they considered it.

"I think she might be a witch." Bonnie said suddenly, and he wasn't the only one who shot the short the girl an incredulous look. She didn't miss a beat though, and went on, "Today in the hospital, she got these cookies for Jenna, and they tasted exactly like my Grams'. I thought it was weird at first because Grams used to put all these herbs and things in those, but then Elena thought they tasted same too. When she mentioned that, Hermione got all quiet and started asking these questions about Grams' like she thought something was wrong. I asked if she knew her, but she said no and then she left. We waited for her to get back for like an hour-?" She turned towards Rick to confirm and he added- "and a half."

"So an hour and a half. And then we got your call and had to come here. We thought she could have gone home, but since you had no problems – we figured she didn't."

That was… unsettling. Where had the Brit gone if not to her house? Because Damon was sure if she had come back, they would've ran into her for sure. And it probably wouldn't have been pretty.

"Well, that is a good theory. But are you sure witches can do all that barrier thing?" Stefan frowned at Bonnie, who shrugged in response – "As much as I don't want to admit it, I'm an amateur, Stefan. All I know is what Grams taught me. It could very well be something I could achieve with practice."

"Still doesn't explain the blood." Rick said, breaking the thoughtful silence after a while, pouring himself another drink, pacing behind the bar.

"Maybe it's the cat?" Caroline said uncertainly, looking at him, but he shook his head – the cat smelled nothing like her.

"Why _are_ you so eager to trust her?" Damon asked her, frowning over his glass at Bonnie and Blondie.

"She seems like a nice person." Blondie said desolately, and he had the impression that she wanted to believe that very much, but still had doubts.

"Well, she makes excellent cookies, if that helps." Rick said, shrugging as everyone turned to him skeptically. _What?_

"Oh yeah…" Bonnie nodded considerately, "The best."

Damon wanted to ask what the hell they were talking about, but then thought better of it because the expression on Rick's face was rather alarming. Instead he thought about the fact that Caroline seemed rather assured that the Brit was worth trusting, even though she admitted she was dangerous. After seeing everything at her house, what made Blondie think she was a decent person? He was dangerous too, and she hated him; Katherine was dangerous, she hated her; then why not the Brit – because she was polite as hell? She hadn't ever mentioned what they had talked about that day…

"Okaaay…" Stefan said finally, "But that is all assuming she isn't lying about anything-"

"-which she is." A voice interrupted from the front door, and they all turned to see Elena, arms folded and looking cross.

"Elena… How did you know-" Bonnie started, but was cut off by the seething brunette.

"-I know where you were? Easy. When Rick got a call from the school, you disappeared from the hospital ten minutes later. I'm not that stupid." She said, walking towards them, and moving towards Rick and the bar, looking upset.

"Look, we didn't want you to panic – " Stefan started, but Damon had had enough. One British mystery was giving them enough problems right now, his brother and Elena could continue their drama later.

"What is she lying about then?" Damon said, interrupting his brother, and she turned to look at him, silent for a second before answering.

"If she's really a researcher, what is she doing talking to everyone about it? Research is done from books, not by getting to know everyone by volunteering in preparation for a ball. It looks like she's trying too hard to make friends, trying to dig some specific information about Katherine by getting involved with us." Elena said, and Damon blinked. That seemed to add up. There were too many things vague about the girl for her to just be a student.

Except the day she had talked to Stefan, she hadn't even been aware that his brother knew Katherine. So she wasn't digging with them deliberately. She was digging with them because _they_ were in _her_ way.

Elena was staring at Stefan, sipping her drink, looking at him mischievously – _Oh Shit_.

Within seconds, he had her pinned by the wall, hand on her throat and anger burning in his chest at the sight of her. There was a crash as the glass undoubtedly fell and broke and several surprised shouts as they watched him; Stefan by him in a second.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He snarled in her face, and the bitch smirked at him, completely relaxed under his choke hold.

"What gave it away – the necklace?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him and then smiling over his left shoulder at his brother, no doubt, who replied in an exasperated voice, "Katherine. What are you doing here?"

"She wouldn't leave Jenna alone just to come here and plot with us, even if she realized why Bonnie and Rick had left." Damon snarled at her in explanation, his heart pinching with a snip of hurt as she smiled. He tried to tighten his fingers around her throat and her expression finally changed to an irritated one, and she grabbed hold of his hand and pried it away.

"I was just here to make sure you didn't walk right into her trap and get yourself killed. Because where would be the fun in that?" She said slowly, seductively moving towards Stefan, and trailing a hand on his chest.

He slapped it away as Damon turned around, looking for a piece of wood to drive in her heart. He had grabbed a chair, and broken the leg in the next second, but she was behind him right then, his arm pinned by his back, and the wooden chair leg scraping his back.

"You can thank me later." She said softly in his ear, smirking like a cat no doubt, and promptly shoved the wood in his back, just so that it scraped his spine. There was a whoosh of air and she was gone.

Stefan was behind him in a second, and he groaned loudly as the wood was pulled out and thrown away, the skin hurting for a few seconds before it healed.

"Bitch." He commented in the shocked silence, moving to pour himself another drink.

* * *

It had been almost two days since she'd caught a wink of sleep. The last time she had slept was the day before yesterday, when she'd had the stupid flashbacks. The current day had been a drastically useless one – with the exception of Bonnie. She had the new information about a Bennet witch's presence in town to deal with, once the vampires searching her house were satisfied of course. She had decided to visit Matt at the Grill in the meantime, as it was almost evening and his shift was about to start.

The conversation with Matt flowed easily – he was the only person who she could talk to without the danger of him poking beneath the surface of the things she told him. He accepted everything in stride and she felt guilty thinking it, but he was thoroughly muggle. And she loved that because talking to the blond presented her a sense of calm that was rare to find ever since she'd stepped inside the supernaturally populated town.

Plus, she found he could easily talk about anything that bothered him too. It was nice to be trusted. The way back home, she planned what she would do with Bonnie. The mindless chatting with Matt helped her clear her head and hence she was able to think properly towards the witch issue.

The first course would be to talk to Bonnie. Alone. Convince her to trust that she was right and hopefully educate her about her own history in the meantime. As soon as possible, she had to start training Bonnie in defensive and honestly, all kinds of natural magic. Maybe get her a wand too, even though it wouldn't do much good since she was obviously a Wiccan witch.

Once Hermione was home, she checked the basement first – the webs were gone, which meant they had definitely checked this part, but the door was still sealed shut. She had to pry it open and checked for any papers or weapons being out of place, but they weren't. Nothing seemed out of place, and everything else in the house was normal too – but the misplaced feeling didn't leave her mind. Something was definitely wrong.

She pushed past it though, and decided to look for some books to help her with Bonnie's case. Anything she could find on American history would have to do, along with texts on Wiccan witches, which she really hadn't bothered to carry with her. As the evening drew to an end, her anxiety spiked. She was supposed to have received a call from Damon or Stefan or Caroline. It would've been obvious she had sent the blood pops, and they were supposed to react to that in some way or the other.

Barely two minutes had passed after she had the thought, and she felt the wards tingle. It was Stefan, Damon and Caroline. They weren't talking, as she tried to hear through the strings coming in through the windows, and the doorbell rang twice. She swallowed nervously and moved towards the door – there they were, all three smiling like nothing was wrong in the world.

"Hi Hermione. How are you?" Caroline said cheerily, stepping inside and smiling at her.

"Hi Caroline. I'm good. Hi Damon. Stefan." She nodded at them both, and they smiled politely at her. There were an excruciating few moments of awkward silence, where they all kept smiling at her, before she gave in and sighed, "Come on in then both of you."

Damon smirked immediately, and didn't waste a moment to step in and walk interestedly towards the mantelpiece, where she had some photographs of everyone. There was also one of her, Harry and Ron, from second year, black and white and enlarged, hanging over the fireplace. Stefan, on the other hand, stopped in front of her, "Thank you, Hermione."

She nodded and waved a hand, the damage was already done. Sugar-coating anything wouldn't help now. Damon was already sniffing through her kitchen rudely and Caroline was sitting on an armchair nervously.

This was so awkward. This was the exact type of thing she had been hoping to avoid.

"So, I'm assuming this is about the blood pops?" she said finally, when no one spoke for another minute. Damon, who had gone from his thorough examination of her kitchen to poking around her living room, turned with a very confused expression on his face – "The _what_?"

"The blood pops, that I sent in the mail? I thought you would enjoy them?" She said slowly, looking around questioningly at Stefan and Caroline, who looked back with blank expressions, like they had no idea what she was talking about.

"Did you even try them, at all?" She said desperately, folding her arms and staring at them crossly. And she had been so sure it wouldn't come to this.

"Try them? What were we supposed to do with them again? Stick them in our nostrils?" Damon said rudely, turning back to her with an irritated expression on his face.

She snorted before she could think twice, but continued, "Eat them. You were supposed to eat them." She said exasperatedly, like explaining something to a five-year old, shaking her head.

"Pfft." Damon scoffed, "Of course." He said sarcastically, turning to Stefan, who just closed his eyes and shook his head minimally.

"Yes, it's specially designed for vampires. You can suck on them for some time, it curbs your hunger." She said, sitting down opposite Caroline, who had yet to say a word. She pulled out a few from her jacket pocket and offered it to her. The blonde cast one questioning look at Stefan, who shrugged, and then picked one slowly, popping it into her mouth.

Hermione watched carefully as veins popped out in the skin right under her eyes, and when she opened them, her corneas were red. She offered the same to Stefan, who shook his head politely, and then to Damon, who just scoffed again.

"Okay, let me make something clear. The only reason I'm here, is because Katherine doesn't want us to be here." Damon said, sitting down opposite her, "Let's just skip the formalities and get down to business. Alright?"

"Sure." Hermione quipped, and leant back in thought, "One question though – why does Katherine not want you to be here?"

Damon blinked at her for a second, before letting out an incredulous laugh, "How does this keep happening? See, I was hoping _you_ would answer that question for us."

"What?" She said confusedly, "Haven't I already told you that I _don't know_ Katherine? I'm looking for information about her but I don't actually know her."

"And look, if you have something to tell me, just tell me. I don't have time for these stupid games, I have stuff to do." She continued irritated, not understanding why they kept addressing the topic if they were never going to tell her.

"That's the problem. How do we know we can trust you? How do we know you're not just working with her and won't rat us out the second we tell you something?" Stefan said, leaning forwards, a frown etched on his face.

"I don't know how to you make you trust me!" Hermione exclaimed, for what felt like the hundredth time, but then suddenly realized something, "Wait. Did you say she doesn't want you here?"

"Yes. Why?" Stefan said, exchanging a glance with Damon, who looked as confused as his brother.

" _Of course_!" Hermione exclaimed, slapping her forehead, shaking her head at her own naivety, "You _know_ what happened in 1864. She doesn't want _me_ to know, so she's sowing seeds of doubt in your head, so that you don't trust me. Don't you see?" She finished, standing up and pacing in front of the fire.

"Of course that's why. That _clever thing_. She feels threatened by me, because she knows that if you trust me, and tell me whatever it is that you're hiding, she's going to lose her leverage in whatever insane game she's playing." Hermione continued, mostly talking to Stefan.

"Well, she only interfered when we all agreed with Bonnie that you can be trusted. That put us in doubt again-" Caroline started, looking between her and Stefan, who was nodding.

"-which can also be argued to be the right move." Damon interrupted, looking at her carefully. "Here's the thing – Katherine likes to play games, mind games, so it's a fair possibility that she wanted us to do exactly what we're doing right now – trusting you."

"How do we know this isn't what she wanted all along?" He said, lips pursed and eyebrows raised at her.

"And we're back to square one. The question of trusting me. Could this be any more complicated?" Hermione said, shaking her head and sitting back down. They were only running in circles with this Katherine thing. If they continued like this, they would _never_ come to a conclusion.

"Fine, don't trust me. Just let me know _what_ have I done to make you distrust me at all?" she said desperately, looking at Stefan and Caroline, but it was Damon who answered.

"How about the weapons in your basement?" He said, narrowing his eyes at her, and she grimaced. So they _had_ found the basement.

"They're a precaution. Just in case." She replied finally, dejectedly. There was no way this was going to work out in her favor right now. "I'm not in cahoots with Katherine in any way and it's the last thing I want. You're playing right into her hands with this, trust me. Oh wait, you don't." she said irritatedly, taunting.

"Yes, sure we don't. You know why? Because you also have an awfully large amount of vervain in your backyard for someone who doesn't mind vampires. It doesn't look like a precaution to me." Damon said, still glaring at her dangerously, "Answer this – how do you know about us?"

"And don't say the ring, we know you're lying about it." Caroline said hastily, and Hermione blinked twice, shutting her mouth; she _had_ been about to say that.

"I can't say." She said stoically, and Damon smirked triumphantly, looking around at Stefan and Caroline, "There we are. How about this – why do you want to know so much about Katherine and 1864?"

"I can't tell you that." She said hollowly, and before she knew what was happening, Damon slammed her head back against the wall, and pinned here there, hand around her throat. Caroline blurred over towards him with a snarl, but he had pushed her away and his brother in the next second as well.

Hermione's head throbbed where it had banged against the wall, and she brought her left hand to his arm, trying to pry it away. But he had caught hold of it tightly, and moved it away. She let out a gasp of pain as her arm throbbed and felt bile rise in her throat as the pain seared through her. Damon was squeezing the scar itself. Her vision blurred dangerously as she tried to focus on his face, but couldn't. It took everything in her to not just _scream_.

"You need to start answering my questions, darling." He snarled in her face, but she couldn't focus. Her eyes were wet with tears, and her mind focused on getting out of his grip, she was going to pass out soon if he didn't let go of her arm. "Ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies." She croaked out slowly, fingering a stake in her right hand, and faintly noticed his expression turn more murderous, but the next moment, she had staked him right in the throat.

Damon fell back, coughing violently, and her knees hit the floor with a thud. She clutched her arm to her chest, trying to numb her mind to the throbbing pain in her arm and head. The scar was searing hotly, and she was surprised to see that it wasn't bleeding yet.

She got up slowly, still coughing a bit, and looked at the three vampires staring at her. Damon was looking as murderous as ever, and lunged forward again, but she was ready this time. She didn't need to take out her wand, or say the spell. She could feel herself tap into the energy, and thought of the right spell, and Damon's arms and legs snapped together – he was petrified.

Straight as a board, he fell on the floor, and she smirked satisfactorily as his dark eyes glared at her from below. What a greatly satisfying sight.

"What did you do to him?" Stefan said, crouching beside his brother, but unable to move anything. Caroline was still standing by the far table, one she had crashed into and broken a lamp. She was staring at her and Damon with calculating eyes, ready to make a move if needed. It was that which calmed Hermione, if anything else – the fact that Caroline thought she would hurt her.

"I don't mean to hurt any of you. Yes, even you." She said to Damon, who was still managing to glare at her through his eyes, "If I wanted to kill you or hurt you, I would have done it a hundred times over by now."

She turned to Stefan and Caroline calmly, "I'm just going to say this once so listen carefully and believe whatever you want then."

Stefan looked unsurely at Damon but exchanged a glance with Caroline, who nodded and lost her defensive stance, coming to stand by Stefan. Hermione handed her a pack of Blood Pops to her for good measure and her lips twitched but she didn't smile.

"Here's the thing. When I say I _can't_ answer some questions, doesn't mean I don't _want_ to answer them. I'm just… bound by some, promises, let's say. Now I don't know how to make you guys trust me, but to be honest, I'm beyond caring." She looked briefly at Damon, still lying in front of the fireplace, but listening to her alertly; her voice had risen with every word she said. She had been trying too hard to get into their good books – it was enough.

"I will get the information I want in any way possible. I was happy to play along your methods until now. I let you search my house yesterday, I invited you three inside, I promised Bonnie to help with her magic. Hell, I even sacrificed my favorite batch of cookies for you people. But I'm _done_ playing good."

Stefan and Caroline exchanged panicked glances and looked at her with a bit more apprehension. Hermione got up and quickly fished out two more packets of Blood Pops and threw both of them angrily at Stefan. "That's my last peace offering. The ball's in your court now. You have till tomorrow. You decide if you want to trust me, or if I should just get my information by some _other_ methods."

"Now _get out_." She spat, crossing her arms and looking at the two of them.

"What about him?" Stefan said, looking uncertainly at Damon, and Hermione frowned a bit at the uncertainty on his face. Weren't those two brothers? He was supposed to be threatening her to release him or something, not having second thoughts about leaving his brother at her mercy.

"I need to talk to him about something alone. He'll be back in an hour or so." She said, making a split-second decision, looking at Damon and realizing she didn't really have an idea when spells from wandless magic faded.

"You won't hurt him, will you?" Caroline said, looking at her unsurely, and she tried to smile faintly at her. She glanced at Damon, and she could tell he would have rolled his eyes if he could.

"No Caroline. I don't know if you've noticed but I try to abstain from violence whenever possible. I'm not going to touch him, or any of you until you lot have decided what to do. But after that, depending on your decision, he's definitely going to be on top of hit list. Oh, yes." She replied, smirking threateningly at Damon's still form, who looked somewhat alarmed.

"Why can't you just talk to us?" Stefan said, not moving from his place, still looking between her and Damon uncertainly.

"Because it's not something I want to talk about to you? I _said_ he'll be back so he'll be back. Stop worrying and leave." She snapped, and he walked towards Damon, eyeing his still form. Damon would have been mortified if he hadn't already been petrified, and Stefan seemed to sense that when he stood by his brother quietly for two seconds.

"I'll see you later then." Stefan said awkwardly, and finally, he and Caroline left. Hermione didn't move from her position until she had made sure the two had passed out of the gates, and then her shoulders sagged and she sighed deeply, "What a bust."

"Now, what to do with you." She said lightly, standing above Damon. He was still glaring at her, and she chuckled, finally finding it in herself to laugh at his position. "Yeah, not the most comfortable of places, is it?"

"Well then, let's get you sorted." She said, and moved from his line of sight so that he couldn't see her. Taking out her wand, she quickly levitated him onto the sofa, and stuck her wand back in the jacket.

She frowned at him for a while, deciding she needed to clean the blood from his neck, or it would get on the sofa. She went to the kitchen and sorted out her scar first – applied a generous amount of salve, and then wrapped it up. Then she got a cloth and some water, and settled beside the stiff vampire on her sofa.

"Yeah, this is awkward, isn't it." She remarked, feeling rather foolish, knowing he couldn't reply anyway. She looked at his face – he was staring at her unnervingly. There was still some hostility in his gaze, but at least he didn't look murderous.

"I'm sorry I had to do that." She said finally, grimacing at him. It changed nothing of his expression but his eyes might have softened a bit. She quickly looked down as she unbuttoned his shirt – just enough to move it away from the shoulder. The blood had seeped down to his back as well. Well, the shirt was ruined.

She dipped the cloth in water, and swallowed hard, determinedly not looking up at his face as she moved the cloth along his neck. His skin was hard and soft at the same time, but she didn't want to think about it because then she would blush and never be able to do the job – probably end up spilling the water all over his shirt just to see the effect.

NO No no don't go there, Hermione. She clenched her teeth in an attempt to calm her traitorous thoughts, and by the time she was done, her jaw was clenched, she was breathing heavily, and blood had risen to her cheeks to form a dark blush.

She finally looked up at him, and the bastard looked _amused_. That made her crack. "Yes. Very funny, isn't it? Hermione Granger can't look a man in the eyes while cleaning him up, let's all laugh at her till the end of time…" she muttered sullenly, packing up the bloody cloth and took it to the kitchen, still muttering darkly.

When she went back to him, he looked somewhat at ease, if a person who had been petrified and was stiff as a board, could look at ease. She leaned down next to him and pursed her lips, not sure how to break it to him.

That was when she felt a push against the wards, and her eyes narrowed. "What's Stefan doing here again?" She muttered, and Damon looked at her alertly. She waited in silence for a few seconds and a second push never came. "He's gone." She said, and looked at Damon again, who must have been confused.

"Yeah, that's one of my tricks. No one enters without me knowing, doesn't matter if I'm inside the house or out." She said, and nodded, "Yeah I can listen too. Do your hear anything outside?" she asked, and even though he wouldn't answer, she had an inkling he couldn't hear it.

"But that doesn't mean there's nothing to hear." She remarked with a smile, and moved to the window, pulling on a string and pushing it into her ear.

"-going to stay and wait for him. I can't get inside, and I can't hear a single sound." Stefan's voice said, as if right next to her, and she heard Caroline agreeing with him and leaving.

"You sure he's going to be okay? Elena asked if you need her to come and stay." Alaric's voice said, and Stefan probably shook his head, "It's alright. You can leave. I have a feeling she won't hurt him. We were being too paranoid. Bonnie was right all along."

There was silence for the next minute after Alaric left, and Stefan had probably left to roam the woods or something, or whatever the hell vampires did.

She pulled the string out and walked back to the sofa, sitting beside Damon again. "So I thought your brother probably hated you or something, because he shouldn't have left you here in the first place with me, but now he's outside, waiting for when you'll leave. _Cute_." She remarked, staring at him with a smirk.

"I gather you have a somewhat love-hate relationship with your brother then." She said, and Damon's eyes turned exasperated again, and she knew she was right.

"Hmm. So you might be wondering why I kept you back. Well, mostly it was just to see Stefan's reaction, you know. I've heard rumors about you being after his girlfriend, and Katherine being after him, etc. It's all very confusing. Anyway, it's mostly just so that I could figure you guys out more. I mean no harm or anything." She said, and watched as his huge blue eyes turned accusing again. Actually, she had wanted to punish him too, as she knew the counter curse, but very well wasn't going to cast it.

"Yeah okay, I'm sorry, but you brought this on yourself mate. I never intended to, you know, petrify you or harm you or anything. You were being a twit, I just taught you a lesson okay?" Hermione said, and Damon's expression didn't change, and neither did he lose the glare.

"What am I doing having a conversation with someone who can't reply to me?" she said to herself, not sure why she was still talking, "I'm just lonely. Yeah, that must be it…"

"Yeah well, whatever Salvatore. This should wear down in an hour or two, so you can leave then. Don't try to strangle me in my sleep or anything." She said finally, getting up, "And don't get any ideas." She warned, as she had noticed his eyes light up slightly.

"I'm serious, don't try anything in my sleep, I'm not responsible for what I might do. The consequences can be – dangerous." She said after a pause, frowning at the still vampire seriously.

"Well, good night then, I guess." She said finally, not really feeling like she should leave him alone in the living room, but then, she couldn't really stay either.

* * *

 **I know it feels like a bit of an abrupt end and I wanted to include the next part, but it would've been too long. And the part after this is kinda... lane-changing, let's say.**

 **So lemme know if I've still got the game on with this story? Or is it becoming ridiculous or something?**


End file.
